


Puella Poké Mirage Magica: Homecoming

by Sylvas



Series: Puella Poké Madoka Magica [1]
Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, F/F, Implied Past Relationships, Implied Relationships, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 23:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9351338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylvas/pseuds/Sylvas
Summary: Without warning, medical supplies and services in Johto have become unsustainably expensive, causing Pokemon Centers to board up or charge exorbitantly for their services just to keep afloat. With a central fixture of the economy suddenly at risk, Goldenrod has taken a turn for the worse; how are a few young adult trainers supposed to get by in such dangerous times?Madoka brings home a girlfriend. Kyouko changes careers. Sayaka fights the power.(Episodes 1-3.)





	1. Episode 1.1

"How much is your partner worth to you, pal?"

The man whirled around, in a fright; instinctively, a hand flew to his belt, hiding something on his hip. Behind him, a broad-shouldered youth glowered from under dark, tangled bangs, his beady eyes glimmering with malice and a sickening grin spread across his lips. "What?" He stepped back, trying to pretend he had not been hiding something; the interloper pushed himself off of the wall, hands buried in the pockets of his jackets, walking calmly forward without the slightest change of expression. Now that he was more clearly illuminated by the pale moonlight, one could clearly identify the lime-green band tied roughly around the boy's right sleeve.

"I asked you a question," he said, his voice soft and friendly. "I asked how much your partner there is worth to you." He nodded to the man's belt - the man flinched back, pulling his jacket over the solitary red-and-silver ball that hung there. "The way I see it," the boy continued, now gesturing broadly and raising his voice, "Pokemon are friends, right? And there's nothing in the world more valuable than a good friend."

"Yeah," the man blurted, stepping back further. "Yeah, um, listen - "

The boy lurched forward - and suddenly had thrown an arm around the man, laughing and guiding him forward, patting his stomach; beneath his hold, he could feel the man shivering. "See," he cried, "you're a good Trainer, with an attitude like that. Seein' your partner as more than just a thing in a ball, y'know? That's a good thing. But sometimes you gotta put your money where your mouth is, if you know what I'm saying."

"I'll call the police," the man warned, pulling away, but his voice was weak. All around him he began to pick out shapes of other young men, some older, some younger than the boy beside him. And Pokemon, too - a Scraggy there, a growling Houndour here... 

"And throw your poor partner under the bus?" The boy laughed - letting go and stepping ahead, swaying in an about-face to lazily gesture back at his mark. "Listen, all I'm saying is, we just wanna know if you think your little friend there is worth all the money you've got on you. Give up the money, go home safe, enjoy the company of a good friend, right?" His grin grew, and his arms spread wider. "Or, if you prefer the money, we'll just beat the snot out of your Pokemon instead."

The man's eyes darted between gangsters. Four of them, and three Pokemon that he could see. They were chuckling now, and drawing closer; he heard some behind him, too. The boy's eyes glittered, his smile faltering just a little. "Tick tock," he hissed. 

"This isn't really what I'd call a fair battle," the man managed, reaching towards his pocket - pretending he had a plan, any kind of plan. 

"I'm not challenging you to a battle," the boy purred, rapping his own belt - no Pokemon of his own. "I'm just asking you to show your friend how much you really care for it. Or... don't."

Just then, a blast of water erupted from one side of the alley, knocking aside one of the boy's cronies - at first the man thought a pipe had burst somewhere, before he realized that it had somehow knocked a door open. A blue-and-white blur followed, slamming into the Houndour and sending it scrambling into a wall; the Scraggy jumped up and out of the way, as the gangsters' attentions turned to face the new threat: a Croconaw, grinning toothily at everything nearby. A girl sprinted up beside it, apparently its trainer - the man registered only a shock of blue hair before she pointed at him. "Get out of here!" He didn't need telling twice. 

 

One of the ruffians turned to try to catch the man - but he seemed pretty quick on his feet. Sayaka huffed with relief, glad to at least have split them up. A couple years ago she would've happily taken them all on, but the situation had changed a bit since then.

"Last time I saw you, I told you to quit mugging people," she snarled to the boy at the center, who turned slowly to face her, gnashing his teeth. "Looks like instead you just brought a bunch more thugs and thought that'd stop me."

"You're out of your mind challenging us this openly, girl," the boy retorted. "Do you really think you can take all of us on?"

She nodded to the collapsed Houndour, smirking. "You guys really rich enough to find out?"

"That's not what you should be worried about right now," he hissed. He snapped at his cronies - they shifted between him and Sayaka, and he turned on his heel, leaving them to deal with her. On her left, a Scraggy; on her right a Snubbull. She scoffed - what was this, amateur hour?

"Fang, blast them," Sayaka ordered - the Croconaw snapped her jaws and a jet of water erupted from her mouth, knocking both of the Pokemon and their trainers aside immediately. At the very end of the alley, she saw the boy from before still walking casually, but at the commotion he whirled around... and then broke into a sprint, reaching the street and turning south. Sayaka dashed forward after him, smoothly recalling Fang into her Pokeball as she passed by. 

When she broke into the open, she looked around swiftly - to the south the boy was still running. But just a little ways north the man from before was battling with that one gangster that had splintered off - he had just a little Pichu, and it was cowering under the leering gaze of a Machop. She swore to herself and drew her second Pokeball from her belt, storming towards them. 

He turned to see her before long. "Your fearless leader decided to run," she snarled. "Maybe you ought to follow him."

"Tough talk," he sneered. She smirked, and released her second Pokemon - a Honedge - in response; he quickly angled itself protectively before her, and he paused at that. Small though it was, Honedge was a bit of an intimidating Pokemon, after all. The Machop huffed, and aimed a punch at him, but its fist was met with Honedge's blade, drawing a yelp from the creature and sending it stumbling back with a snarl of frustration. 

"C'mon, let's get out of here," the boy growled, recalling Machop and stomping past Sayaka - shoving into her shoulder as he walked by. She glared at the back of his head, ensuring that he really was leaving, before rolling her shoulder and turning back to the man from before. The Pichu had scampered back to his side, and was staring up at her in terror.

"My name's Sayaka," she offered, drawing herself up and smiling at them both, offering a hand. "Let me walk you guys home." 

 

"That was awfully brave of you," the man remarked. He had introduced himself as Hiroshi; the Pichu, Maya, was now riding his shoulder happily. He'd explained that Maya wasn't even his Pokemon, but rather, a gift for his daughter when he returned home.

"I wouldn't say so," Sayaka chuckled sheepishly. "Mostly just kind of stupid. But they're just street punks, you know? It'll take more than that to stand up to Fang." 

"I haven't been to Johto in a few years," Hiroshi murmured, shaking his head. "But I haven't known regular street punks to try to mug people like that." 

"Well, things have changed a bit," Sayaka replied, morosely. Maya's ears drooped and she poked her head out to look at Sayaka with concern. "I would've thought the whole world knew about it by now."

"What?" Hiroshi turned to face her, as well. 

"I don't know what happened," Sayaka sighed, "but suddenly Pokemon Centers all around the country have had to start charging money. That means some people can't afford to heal their Pokemon, right?"

"I had heard about that," Hiroshi gasped. "But that's led to - this?!"

"Yeah," Sayaka agreed. "They threaten to beat up your Pokemon because they know a lot of people around this part of town can't afford to pay to have them healed. For most of those folks, you either give up your money and your friend doesn't get hurt, or you give up your money but get your friend beat half to death first. It's a no-brainer, so now people are just out in force mugging whoever looks poor enough."

"That's horrible," Hiroshi murmured, shaking his head sadly. 

"But that's why I try to stand up for people," Sayaka added firmly, grinning. "I've got Fang, and she's way tougher than most Pokemon around here. So the two of us want to help anyone get out of situations that they can't get out of themselves safely."

"Well," Hiroshi chuckled, "you're braver than most, then, Sayaka. The world needs more people like you."

"Aw, well," Sayaka laughed, looking away as her cheeks grew hot, "I'm not really that special, trust me." She slipped her phone out of her pocket - just a few minutes past eleven now; the crooks were out earlier than usual. But more importantly than that, someone had messaged her a quick affirmative. 

"Alright," she said, stopping and gesturing forward; the glimmering moonlit main road of Goldenrod lay just ahead. "I've got some other business to take care of, but if you stick to the main road you ought to be safe. Get back indoors quickly now, okay? Don't wanna have to save your ass twice in one night!"

Hiroshi laughed. "You won't have to," he promised. "Take care, Sayaka." 

Sayaka waved eagerly as he turned to walk away; Maya turned around to wave back. Once they had reached the street proper, she sighed heavily and turned around as well, slinking back towards the darkness. Another figure, this one tall and lanky, leaned against the wall of a meager side-street apartment building, previously unseen in the shade; the white of her grin illuminated her face as Sayaka drew closer. 

"Come on, Crystal, do you always have to act so dramatic?" Sayaka sneered. The girl laughed, tossing her dark hair and shrugging comically. 

"I can't help it," she replied smugly. "I love the night! Moving around unseen, taking on bad guys... it's the life!"

"Yeah, until somebody gets hurt," Sayaka grumped, but she couldn't help but grin, too. "C'mon, we've got somewhere to be."


	2. Episode 1.2

"Good work, Fang," Sayaka sighed. "Come here." 

Only once they were alone in the alley did she lower her guard. Fang lumbered over, rubbing her right shoulder with a grumble of annoyance; Sayaka knew she was trying to pass off the injury as minor, but she'd seen her take the hit - you don't just take a bite from a Raticate and walk it off. "Let me see it," she ordered, swinging her backpack around her left shoulder and reaching in for one of her stock of potions; Fang grunted and showed her arm with a defeated expression, and Sayaka sprayed around it gingerly. The medicine worked fast, sealing up the injury, and when Fang flexed the scales around shifted over top, making it hard to tell it had even happened. She'd recover the rest of the way on her own just fine. 

She turned around to see Crystal walking back from the other end, arms in her coat; the streetlight behind her cast a shadow over her face, but it wasn't hard to tell how annoyed Crystal looked. "Cowards!" she huffed, as she approached. "What gives, attacking an old lady like that and then just running off?!" 

"I guess they were probably pretty desperate," Sayaka murmured, shaking her head. "When we started this, I thought we'd be helping people, but I feel pretty bad about some of the people we fight, too, you know? I mean, _most_ of them don't even fight us, it's not just these guys." 

"Yeah," Crystal murmured, leaning against the wall again and looking back the way she'd come from. The victim had been just outside of her apartment, and had taken the opportunity to duck back inside. "A bunch of these guys are probably trying to take care of their own Pokemon, too." 

"They're probably Greensleeves victims," Sayaka seethed - even just thinking about them made her so angry. "I didn't see any armbands on these guys, did you?" Crystal shook her head. "I ran into one of them earlier, but he scampered and I figured it was better to walk the victim home..."

"You want to bring them down, don't you?" Crystal growled. "We're not going to get anywhere playing kid vigilante, you know that, right?"

Sayaka was quiet. She didn't know what she expected, really. Part of her had just hoped this would all end so much sooner - that the Pokemon League or Interpol would figure out who was causing the hike and would be able to press charges or even just bring them down. But it'd been nearly a year, now, and there was still no change - prices climbed, very slowly but very steadily, for medicine and supplies all across Johto, without a sign of stopping. 

That wasn't something she could do anything about. She'd accepted that very early on. Her problem was people trying to take advantage of this whole mess, and at the top of that food chain was the Greensleeves gang. They were all over, and any time Sayaka tried to take one on, three others would show up and she'd have to bail. It was infuriating, but it was also kind of depressing to think just how many people were a part of that gang. How many of them had been roped or coerced into it? Crystal was right; if she was going to salvage anything from this mess, and make Goldenrod a safer place, she would have to do a lot more than just taking on individual muggers. 

"Who'd you run into?" Crystal asked, her voice more muted. 

"Kusaro," Sayaka huffed. "You know, slimy black hair kid? Big guy?" 

"Yeah, I've seen him around." She closed her eyes. "Didn't you say your girlfriend knew him?" 

"Ex," Sayaka clarified, bitterly, feeling the hair on her neck stand up. 

"Well, if you're serious about this, you're going to need some kind of lead," she said pointedly. "You can't chase after him now, but maybe she'll know where we can start looking for him next time."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Sayaka groaned, looking away and rubbing the back of her neck. "I'll ask her about it. You don't have to guilt trip me or whatever." 

"It's your cause," Crystal muttered. "I'm just following it." 

_I didn't ask for that._ For a moment Sayaka considered saying so, but that wouldn't do any good. Crystal had been a good friend, even if they'd gotten off on awkward terms at first. "Thanks," she said, sheepishly, instead. Crystal scoffed. 

"Well, anyway, it's getting pretty late," she commented. "You gonna check out pretty soon?" 

"Yeah," Sayaka agreed, offering Fang a little nod of gratitude before recalling her. "Don't stay out too late, alright?" Crystal had turned away, but she lifted her hand to wave back at her as she walked away. Sayaka watched her with a smirk, before turning to start home herself.

 

"So, um. Nice weather?"

Sayaka laughed, awkwardly, trying to break the tension. No dice. Hitomi just stared at her, her lips tight but expression otherwise totally blank and unreadable. They'd only seen each other a couple of times since the breakup, but it had been like this each time; Hitomi was so intense, Sayaka didn't have any idea how to handle it. 

"You could at least be kind of friendly," Sayaka muttered indignantly, looking away.

"You said you needed to ask me something," Hitomi said quietly. "What did you want to know?" 

"I mean..." Sayaka sighed, folding her arms. "Is this us, now? I thought we would at least be better off than this..."

"People have seen you with gangs," she intoned. "My family is glad I am rid of you."

"Wow, jeez." 

"I only mean to say that it would be good for us to keep this short." Hitomi sounded a little stung, and she shifted her hands closer together and averted her gaze very, very slightly. Sayaka took that as a victory. 

"Alright, I guess that's appropriate," she sighed, leaning in closer. Hitomi's hands closed around her coffee protectively, as if afraid Sayaka would take it - and maybe drink some and then try to kiss it into her mouth. Sayaka supposed that was a fair reflex to have. Oops. "Kusaro Hajiribe. Do you remember him?" 

"Also a gang member," she muttered, "yes." 

"He's a part of the Greensleeves, specifically," Sayaka continued; Hitomi closed her eyes. 

"A gang is a gang," Hitomi said crossly. "I don't want to get tangled up in your mess again." 

"I'm not a gangster, first of all," Sayaka growled. 

"You roam around with others having fights with other gang members," Hitomi recited dully. 

"Yeah, so they don't use that energy mugging people or beating up their Pokemon!" Sayaka's fists curled on the table; Hitomi flinched as Sayaka raised her voice. There were others in the shop, of course, but they didn't really mind Sayaka or her outbursts - Sayaka hoped. "This isn't about petty gang politics or whatever," she continued angrily. "I don't care about any of that! The Greensleeves are extorting people for medicine for their Pokemon because they can't afford a full service at the Pokemon center. Those people need help, and if by helping them it makes me look like a gangster, I don't care!"

Hitomi stared at her levelly for a few more moments; her temper rising, Sayaka glared back. She started rehearsing in her mind what she would say, if Hitomi still refused to help, when she realized... that Hitomi's eyes had softened, and slowly, the other girl looked down, threading her fingers together.

"Sayaka, this is very dangerous," she murmured. "Why... why do you insist on putting yourself at risk? You understand you and your Pokemon will just get hurt, don't you?" 

"We'll be fine!" Sayaka insisted, though she was flushing a bit at Hitomi's sudden concern. "Fang and I don't ever lose, not to thugs like this. And besides, if we have to get a bit scuffed up along the way but can stop innocent people from getting mugged... that's worth it to us." 

Hitomi's eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared, but she didn't say anything. She took a few deep breaths, and sighed, her shoulders slumping a little bit. "I won't be able to convince you, will I?" she said, shaking her head. "So... fine. You want my help to figure out where Hajiribe is spending his time?"

"I'm trying to get a read on who their leader is, or where they might be," Sayaka explained, letting out a relieved sigh. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you to stay safe, but - really, don't do anything stupid, y'know?"

"I won't," Hitomi snapped. "But if there's something I can easily figure out, then I'll be in touch." She took a deep breath, straightening herself up and folding her arms again. "Do you intend to rope Madoka into this nonsense, too?"

"No," Sayaka gasped, recoiling. "Of course not. I hope to be done with it before she gets here. I don't want Madoka to have to deal with any of this." 

Hitomi nodded, sighing sadly. "I agree," she murmured. "Does she know already? I don't know if I could bear the look on her face when she finds out what's happened." 

"We'll just have to fix it before she arrives, then," Sayaka cheered, grinning. "We'll work together!"

To Sayaka's delight, Hitomi smiled. "Yes." She tossed her hair, and shifted forward, delicately stirring her cappuccino delicately. "How is she doing? I haven't heard from her in a very long time." 

"She's good," Sayaka chirped, leaning back a bit. "She says her transition is going well! She's even nervous we won't recognize her."

"I'm sure she's very different," Hitomi replied, happily. "But Madoka will always be Madoka."

"Honestly, I think I'll be able to recognize her even better than before," Sayaka boasted, grinning. "Being a mid-size cute girl suits her better than being a tiny boy." Hitomi hummed her agreement. 

"How do you think she dresses?" Hitomi's stirring took on a bit of a lazy air, as she dreamily stared out past Sayaka's shoulder. "When we knew her, she dressed nicely, if... boyishly. But now that she's presenting, I'm very curious what her style is like." She turned her attention back to Sayaka. "Do you think she'd like to go shopping with me?"

"Yeah, I'm sure she's really looking forward to it!" Sayaka nodded. "We can all go, if you don't mind me tagging along."

"I wouldn't mind," Hitomi agreed, delighted. "It would be just like being back in school again." She took a sip of her drink, humming happily. 

"But for that," Sayaka added, "we've got to take care of the Greensleeves, right?"

"Yes," Hitomi confirmed, just barely lowering the rim of her cup. "You have somewhere to be, then?"

"Bit of a meetup with some other leads," Sayaka said, flashing her phone in Hitomi's direction, showing a message from Crystal. "You take care, though. Thanks for the chat." 

"Thanks for the coffee," Hitomi replied quietly. "Stay safe."


	3. Episode 1.3

Goldenrod City was a big place; Sayaka and Crystal both had a few other friends that had gotten involved in their night patrols, but they had nowhere near enough people to cover the whole city. Sayaka generally took to the largest districts herself. She had Fang - and her Honedge, Zhen - and she doubted she'd ever come across a gangster that could take them both on. People with that kind of talent didn't usually stay in the city... most of the kids Sayaka had known that had once been competition for her had gone off to challenge the gyms. 

Sayaka often wished she had followed along, but somewhere in her heart, she knew it wasn't for her. She probably would have, anyway, had it not been for Madoka. She looked up briefly from her phone; no sounds of commotion, no sulking delinquents... so she turned her attention back to it:

> `Madoka: I just realized, it's been a few years since I've seen you, too!`  
>  `Madoka: I'm sure you look very different!`  
>  `Sayaka: probably not...`  
>  `Sayaka: i dunno, i guess maybe i'm a bit taller?`  
>  `Madoka: Is your hair still blue?`  
>  `Sayaka: of course!`  
>  `Madoka: I don't know what I'd do if you decided to change that.`  
>  `Sayaka: did you wind up going with the pink?`  
>  `Madoka: Yes! I still think it looks kind of silly, all things considered, but it looks nice, too.`  
>  `Sayaka: yeah!! i always thought it would suit you.`  
>  `Sayaka: how's missy doing?`  
>  `Madoka: Very well. She has been a very good girl all this time, but I think being back home is...`  
>  `Madoka: Invigorating her, I guess? She's been a little fiestier than usual.`  
>  `Sayaka: fiesty is good!`  
>  `Madoka: It's certainly endearing! She's a sweetheart. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you again.`  
>  `Madoka: How is Zhen?`  
>  `Sayaka: you know zhen, cool as a cucumber, as always.`  
>  `Madoka: I think swords are cooler than cucumbers.`  
>  `Sayaka: you would think that.`  
>  `Madoka: I would, and do! lol  
> ` `Sayaka: hehehe  
> `

Sayaka snorted, and shook her head. Madoka was such a dork. But she was a precious dork near to Sayaka's heart. They had been friends since elementary school, when some boys had been picking on her, and Sayaka had stood up against them. They'd kinda both taken a beating, since Sayaka wasn't very good at fighting yet, but Madoka had been grateful for someone standing up for her, and Sayaka had been grateful for the help.

Of course, back then, no one knew Madoka was a girl. Every time Sayaka remembered the moment Madoka had told her she was trans, she winced. She had said some insensitive things about it at the time - not out of a desire to be mean or anything, just being confused. But Madoka had forgiven her, Sayaka had promised not to let anyone treat her that way again. She was glad to have Madoka in her group of childhood friends, and had a lot of fond memories of the times Hitomi taught them both about makeup and fashion, from what she had learned in turn from her mother. It made her smile just thinking about it. 

Her phone buzzed in her hand - whoops.

> `Madoka: I think I'm going to set out tomorrow morning, rather than next week. Would that be okay?`  
>  `Madoka: ...Sayaka?`  
>  `Sayaka: whoops kinda spaced out there.`  
>  `Sayaka: um, i guess, if there's a good reason to! we just all were expecting you next week...`  
>  `Madoka: Well, it's not like I'm coming for some visit and you have to entertain me.`  
>  `Madoka: I'm back for good now! I'm going to get my own place and everything.`  
>  `Sayaka: yeah! that'll be awesome. i'm really excited to have you back in town.  
> ` `Madoka: What's changed in Goldenrod?  
> ` `Madoka: Are all of our favorite places still there?`

Sayaka winced. Madoka had not really been one for battling. Her first Pokemon was an Eevee that had been hit by a car - Madoka had dashed out into the street, into traffic, to gather the poor thing up and ensure she was safe, and they'd been attached at the hip ever since. Given that first experience, it was natural that Madoka had been rather protective, and Sayaka doubted that that had changed. Battling always made a trainer nervous... but in Sayaka's experience, the first time was always the hardest. After that, it wasn't so bad. Or at least, it wouldn't be, in a world where you could heal your partners for free.

She swore under her breath, pinching the bridge of her nose as she stared at Madoka's question; even as she did, Madoka asked, 'Spacing out again? :)' What was she gonna do about this whole Greensleeves situation...? It was like Hitomi had said; if Madoka came home to see Goldenrod as it was today, with muggings a constant nightly threat and the cheapest available healing supplies coming from a quickly-growing gang of thugs... she'd be heartbroken, and Sayaka didn't want to see that. But at the same time, how much could she really do?

> `Madoka: Spacing out again? :)`  
>  `Madoka: If I'm heading out tomorrow, I should get some sleep soon.`  
>  `Madoka: And it seems like you could use some too!`  
>  `Sayaka: nahhhh it's like crystal always says!`  
>  `Sayaka: no rest for the wicked, madoka!`  
>  `Madoka: You don't seem particularly wicked.`  
>  `Madoka: I would peg you as the opposite of wicked, even.`  
>  `Sayaka: are you being sarcastic???`  
>  `Madoka: hahaha Only a little bit. You're a kind person, Sayaka! I think you deserve rest.`  
>  `Sayaka: okay i know you're being nice but that's a little creepy?`  
>  `Madoka: I'll put you to sleep myself. >:)`  
>  `Madoka: I'll have Missy hypnotize you. >:)`  
>  `Sayaka: oh no!!!!`  
>  `Sayaka: oh man, i just realized you haven't met crystal yet!`  
>  `Madoka: I'm nervous about meeting your friends.`  
>  `Madoka: I know you'll tell me I look good, but...`  
>  `Sayaka: i bet you look awesome!!!`  
>  `Sayaka: though you could always send me a pic to double check!`  
>  `Madoka: Now you're being a little creepy!`  
>  `Sayaka: whaaat nah nah come on`  
>  `Sayaka: it's just a good old selfie exchange! that's a thing friends do`  
>  `Madoka: I want it to be a surprise!`  
>  `Madoka: I've worked so hard on myself... so it's kind of a special thing!`  
>  `Sayaka: yeah of course! i'm really excited to see`  
>  `Sayaka: and i'm sure you'll look rad and fem as hell and all my gay friends will be super hot for you<`br /> `Madoka: Oh, no, you didn't tell me your friends are gay. Now I can't meet them.`  
>  `Sayaka: ???`  
>  `Madoka: Whoops, haha. Kind of an inside joke, I guess.`  
>  `Madoka: Some of my friends in Lumiose joke about how gay people are always attracted to me.`  
>  `Sayaka: see??? you're already pulling in the boys AND the girls`  
>  `Sayaka: i... assume  
> ` `Sayaka: idk anyone in their right mind should think you're adorable  
> ` `Madoka: Aww, thank you, Sayaka.`

Sayaka had started to type her response when something moved.

She had climbed up on the top of a bus stop, in a lonely section of southern Goldenrod; she had a commanding view of the whole street and the park across from her. Someone was walking through the park, on one of the weaving footpaths that led to the street - Sayaka couldn't get a good look yet, but she could see that the girl's eyes were directly on her.

> `Sayaka: okay um something's up i gotta go`  
>  `Madoka: ??? Please be safe!  
> ` `Sayaka: i've got fang and zhen with me! i'm totally safe!  
> ` `Sayaka: you get some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow okay?`

She slipped her phone in her pocket after that, turning her attention to the stranger. It was a girl that was just about her age, maybe a bit taller, with dark crimson hair swept back into a ponytail; she had a jacket and leggings under jean shorts, trailing down to leg warmers and heeled boots - a style Sayaka saw from girls at school, but hadn't really seen since, and most notably, it made the girl's lime-green armband seem positively out of place.

"What's someone like you doing involved with the Greensleeves?" Sayaka asked, smirking. "You're too pretty and done up for it."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" the stranger growled. She had stopped on the sidewalk opposite Sayaka, hands in her pockets. "You're Sayaka Miki, aren't you?"

Sayaka's smile faded. "Yeah," she muttered. This was already ominous. "Who're you?"

"Nobody in particular," the girl replied dismissively. "You're causing trouble for us. So it's my job to cause trouble for you."

Sayaka didn't respond, and instead just glared at her for a moment; she stared back, her own expression becoming increasingly bored. 

"So?" she sighed. "You gonna fight me, or what?" 

"Is that it?" Sayaka huffed. "You have a problem, so you have to fight it out? Aren't you worried about getting your partner hurt?" 

"What do you mean, am I --" The girl's eyes narrowed; Sayaka saw her brow twitch. "You're some kind of goody two-shoes, aren't you," she hissed. "That's the fucking worst. Of course you are." 

"Better than being a thug like you," Sayaka snapped, blood rushing into her temples. 

"You can't insult me by calling it how it is," the girl responded easily, her lips still pulled back in a snarl. She drew a Pokeball from her jacket pocket and began tossing it in the air beside her. "There's no time to be worried about getting hurt in this business," she added darkly. "You think you're gonna convince anybody serious with weak talk like that?" 

"You should be worried!" Sayaka cried. "Your Pokemon are - "

"Partners and real living feeling creatures, yeah," the girl interrupted angrily. "They're my business partners, too! They're in this job just as much as me."

Sayaka was seething now. How could this person be so blindly dismissive?! "That's easy for you to say when you control all of the healing supplies," she shouted. "You don't have to care about who gets hurt along the way!" 

"That's one way of thinking about it," the girl grumped. "What is it to you, anyway? What's so worth fighting this for?"

"I'm standing up for all of the people that can't stand up for themselves!" Sayaka jumped down from her perch, whirling Fang's pokeball out of her own jacket. "People that can't live safely in this part of the city without fear of getting mugged by your cronies!" 

"Mugged?" The girl leaned back, raising her eyebrows incredulously. "That's not what we do. Where are you hearing that?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Sayaka snarled. "I've seen your guys with the armbands around, cornering people on the streets and taking their money or beating up their Pokemon! It's sick!"

"Huh." The girl shrugged. "Well, that's not any of my business. I still have a job to do." 

"Wh-" Sayaka threw her arm out. "How can you say that!? What if it was your partner on the line?!"

"I'd beat them up back." The girl's eyes closed, and she snatched her pokeball out of the air, rearing her arm back. "Thing is, Miki, if you're so worried about getting hurt... the safest thing to do?" Her eyes opened again, gleaming red in the starlight. "Stay out of other people's business." 

 

Sayaka threw first - Fang came down onto the field with a crash and roared immediately. The girl huffed, smirking, and lobbed her own ball into the street - revealing a Victreebel. Sayaka reeled at the sight of it immediately - it was so big! Fang stepped back, too, clearly intimidated; Sayaka knew she wasn't up to this particular matchup. She had to play this smart! 

"Back up, Fang," Sayaka ordered, taking out her second Pokeball. "Leave this one to Zhen!" 

The Honedge swiftly angled itself over her again, as Fang stepped back. The girl before her looked momentarily surprised, though her nasty grin didn't falter. "Eh, that's an interesting Pokemon," she observed mildly. "So that's your answer to grass-types, huh?"

"Zhen, cut it apart!" Sayaka roared. Zhen swirled around in a wide arc; the Victreebel lashed out with a vine as though to catch him, but Zhen suddenly changed directions and went for a thrusting attack instead, stabbing directly into the plant - sort of? It seemed to shimmer, and there seemed to be no give; the vine lashed back from behind Zhen and cut right through him - he toppled from the air all at once, clattering back down the street towards Sayaka. She cried out in alarm and dashed over to him; he was motionless, cleanly knocked out in a single attack. 

"Amateur," the girl huffed dismissively. When Sayaka looked up, the Victreebel was gone - replaced by a black fox-like biped that she had never seen before, with red accents to its coat. It let out a strange warbled cry, and the girl strode forward to pet it. "You're just some kid doing this because she thinks she's tough," she chuckled. "I'm gonna enjoy dismantling you." 

Sayaka snarled at her again, though she couldn't form any kind of comeback to that. Too angry, and too worried for Zhen - what would Madoka say if he was hurt when she arrived? She returned Zhen to his ball and jumped upright again; Fang lumbered forward beside her, growling. "We can take this thing," she hissed. 

"This one won't learn if we're gentle with her," the girl said, to her own Pokemon; the creature nodded. "Take your time and draw it out."

"Like hell you'll hurt her!" Sayaka looked to Fang. "Blast it!" Fang didn't need telling twice; she fired a jet of water at her opponent, who vaulted high over it and came down with a swiping claw attack. Fang leaned out of the way and swung around, striking back with her tail, but that only knocked the fox back for a moment; it quickly closed the gap again, but Fang's jaw snapped around its shoulder and she hurled it back across the street towards Sayaka. 

As it skidded across the asphalt to a stop, Sayaka thought maybe they had won, but she held her breath anyway; sure enough, the creature got up shortly after, as its trainer stepped forward to help it. "Sheesh," the girl murmured. "You're gonna have to put a bit more back into it than that, Rua."

"You can't beat us!" Sayaka shouted, grinning. "You just got a lucky cheap shot!" 

"You're the one that walked into it," the girl growled back. "There's no way we're going to get beat by an amateur." Rua nodded, beside her, and lunged forward again; this time it stopped short, as Fang prepared to counterattack it, darting to the side to strike with its claws. An attack like that from most Pokemon would glance off of Fang's scales - but Fang let out a roar of pain as they dug underneath.

"Stop calling me an amateur," Sayaka cried. "You're my age!"

"Age has nothing to do with it," the girl snarled back. Rua pranced backwards, then suddenly dashed in and slid low to the ground beneath Fang's snapping jaws, swiping with its legs to trip her; Fang caught herself on the way down, but had to roll clumsily away from Rua's follow up, and snapped her jaws again to deter another strike. "What kind of idiot goes around fighting gangsters and then says shit like 'Aren't you afraid your partner will get hurt?!' That's what makes you an amateur!" 

"Caring about my partner makes me an - "

"Rua is a part of the business!" the girl interrupted. "She works just as hard as I do, and she's not about to let a couple scrapes scare her off of her work! If you're so worried about Pokemon getting hurt, then don't get involved!"

"It's not about whether or not Fang and I get hurt," Sayaka hissed. "It's about all the people who aren't as strong as we are, and can't fight back!" Rua lunged in as soon as Fang had settled onto her feet - but when Rua feinted away from Fang's bite, the Croconaw pivoted and swung her whole body slamming the fox to the pavement again with her tail, and following up with another jet of water that knocked Rua further back - until she knocked into the curb. The girl winced, and started forward - but Rua waved an arm back, carefully pushing herself onto her feet again. 

"So what's your whole moral alignment here?" the girl taunted, as Rua readied itself for another attack; Fang let out a low growl, as the two Pokemon stood in stalemate. "You're worried about Pokemon getting hurt, so you're gonna hurt gangsters, instead?"

"I'll stop the people that would hurt innocents," Sayaka cried. 

"Oh, so you're only going to protect innocent people," the girl mused, her voice high and sarcastically thoughtful. "So who's innocent? When a policeman sees a homeless trainer and their Pokemon huddled under a bridge and threatens them to get them to leave, who's innocent? If a rich person walks by hurt Pokemon in the Pokemon center and doesn't pay for their care, are they guilty if that Pokemon never heals?"

"What's your point?!" Sayaka snapped. "I don't like that people get forgotten and left behind! But their suffering doesn't mean they should hurt other people, too!" She jabbed forward. "Fang, finish this!"

"So, what," the girl murmured, "you think those suffering people should just roll over and die?"

Fang leapt forward, closing her jaws swiftly around Rua's neck - in fact, completely through them. 'Rua' shimmered and vanished, and a dark haze gathered around Fang, solidifying into a rough-surfaced circle; just as Sayaka cried out, it exploded, knocking Fang back and sending her to the pavement next, while Rua stood injured but tall beside her master. 

"You're just looking after your people," the girl called, a certain haughtiness infusing her voice. "The same way I'm looking after mine. But if you aren't tough enough to beat me, even, then it's probably just best that you give up altogether!" 

"Fang isn't beat yet!" Sayaka roared, though anxiety filled her as she looked down at the faithful Croconaw; despite her worries, Fang carefully pushed herself up, too, again ready, and again growling. 

"Oh, how fortunate for you," the girl cried. "Well, now, Miki, this is where you ask yourself: are you afraid of your partner getting hurt?" She spread her arms wide as Sayaka recoiled. "This is Rua's job, so I know she's ready for more! But if you beat me, and your precious Croconaw loses an eye in the process, is that worth it to you? Or are you going to feel guilty forever about crippling your Pokemon to not even solve a problem?"

Sayaka didn't have a response to that. 

"See, you're a smart girl after all," the stranger chuckled. She recalled Rua, and turned to leave, looking back and waving over her shoulder. "Stay out of trouble!" she laughed. "Or else you might run into me again!"


	4. Episode 1.4

Sayaka hadn't been to the train station in quite a while; now that it had stops connecting most of central Johto and Kanto together, rather than only their respective urban centers, it was a lot busier than she remembered. And just like most of the city, it had decayed a little with use. Where once it would have had a polished sheen to it, many of the bricks had chipped or faded, there was trash collecting in unattended corners... it just wasn't as clean as it once had been. By itself, it was easily ignored, but Sayaka couldn't help but see it as a symptom of the deeper disease. 

Beside her hovered Zhen, who had perked right up once she'd administered a Revive. Though she had been reluctant to accept, Crystal and her friends had all chipped in to heal Sayaka's Pokemon; her encounter with the Greensleeves enforcer was exciting to all of them, and they took it as a sign of progress. Sayaka struggled to feel so positively about it. The girl's words rang in her mind; someone so purposefully selfish, who dared to lecture her about morals and innocence when she worked for a gang... 

...but that wasn't the part that stood out, what stood out was... 

_Mugged? That's not what we do. Where are you hearing about that?_

Sayaka didn't know what to make of that. What, then, was the Greensleeves' real motive? And what was the deal with all of the arm-banded delinquents cornering people at night and taking their money? Were they just allowed to do as they pleased, or were they some kind of faction acting out? Which was more of a threat - the immediate problem of unsafe streets, or the more sinister mystery about the Greensleeves and their goals? 

And how was she even going to beat them...? She couldn't ask Crystal and the others to put themselves in danger for her - she'd already told them to stand down for a few days and let things cool off, but she wasn't sure she'd ever feel comfortable going out as a group again. That enforcer girl had meant business, and if she could beat Sayaka with just one Pokemon like that... no one else was safe. 

But Sayaka was trying her best to put it out of her mind for now. She glanced up at a faint metal scraping sound to see the train gliding in from the east. Madoka was here - even though she was anxious about it, she was excited, too! 

She waited, hands balled up with anticipation, as the train stopped and the doors opened - people filtered out in a seemingly endless stream. She looked up and down the platform, making sure she hadn't missed her! But near the end, as the crowd began to thin, she looked directly in front of her and caught a quick flash of pink... 

 

...it was her. It had to be her! 

She grinned and waved happily as Madoka approached. Madoka hadn't gotten as tall as Sayaka had thought she might; she stood pleasantly near Sayaka's own height, and walked with a gentle grace that even though Sayaka hadn't ever seen before, she felt belonged on Madoka as though it had always been there. Madoka smiled, gently and with clear relief, as she approached; she was dressed modestly, with a long coat, ankle-height boots and black tights, and a cute pink scarf to go along with it. Her hair was pink, too, of course, styled in two loose ties that rested on either shoulder. 

"God, you're so cute!" Sayaka laughed and launched into a hug - Madoka gasped and recoiled, but handled the impact just fine, and embraced her back with a laugh of her own. She had a sweet voice - a little low, but kindly and just a bit playful, just like Sayaka remembered. 

"I'm glad you think so," Madoka sighed. "You're not as tall as I thought you would be."

"Neither are you!" Sayaka laughed again. "I'd say we're both a good height, don't you think?"

"I like it," Madoka agreed with a nod, barely containing her smile. "And Zhen! It's lovely to see you again, too." 

Zhen made his curious ringing sound and twirled at his mention, circling briefly around Madoka; it was Madoka who had originally caught him, so Sayaka thought she would like to see him again. Madoka chuckled as he returned to his place over Sayaka's shoulder. "How is Sayaka treating you?" she cooed; Zhen rang out again and swirled around Sayaka instead. "Good, good," Madoka chuckled. "I thought you two would get along." 

"I'm excited to see Missy again!" Sayaka chimed in. "And Amy, too! Where is she? I kinda figured she'd be with you on the train!"

"Oh, the train was way too crowded." Madoka giggled and pulled a well-worn Pokeball from her coat. "She's asleep at the moment, I think," she added. "And I hope you'll forgive me for being hesitant to let your fiesty little Misdreavus out in the middle of the day with so many people around."

"Ah, well," Sayaka said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck, "I can see the problem, then, yeah." 

They laughed together again, and started down the platform; Madoka launched right away into talking about her stay in Lumiose. Years ago, her mother had been appointed as a chairman of her company, and that meant working in the corporate office headquarters, so Sayaka and Madoka had been apart since early high school. At the time, Madoka had been quite sure of her identity, but hadn't started transitioning yet - but it looked like everything had gone swimmingly, or at least Sayaka certainly thought so. 

Kalos was, according to Madoka, a charming and friendly place. She gushed about the way you could find anything you wanted to buy in Lumiose, about how gorgeous the city looked at night, about how fun it was to be so close to her mother; she described the beautiful river walks and scenic valleys and vistas all around the region, and how she hoped to take Sayaka and Hitomi to visit some day to see it all. 

Then, inevitably, she started to ask about Sayaka - and about home. Sayaka tried not to sound too evasive. She'd gotten a job for a little while after school, she explained, and it hadn't worked out so she was between jobs just then. Hitomi was doing well, she said, though they didn't spend much time together after they'd broken up. Madoka had laughed at that. 

"It's a shame that it didn't work out," she said hastily, covering her mouth. "I don't mean to laugh at you or anything -- "

"Go ahead, it's in the past now," Sayaka muttered, failing not to sound morose. 

"I just remember thinking how sweet it was that you two got together, at the time," Madoka admitted. "I knew you'd miss me, so I was glad that you'd... I don't know, gotten closer, I guess? But then the more I thought about it the more... worried I got."

"The more you could tell we weren't a couple, I know," Sayaka growled. "It was kind of stupid of me to think it'd ever work."

"Oh, don't say that," Madoka admonished, looking disappointed. "I think you two just both needed to learn a little more about yourselves first, and as long as you're still on good terms I'm okay with that."

"Hitomi offered to take us all shopping," Sayaka added, suddenly remembering. "Once you got back into town. She sounded kind of excited about it, even!"

"Yes, that would be fun," Madoka agreed, her pinks turning a biit red. "I hope she thinks I'm as pretty as you do." 

"Aw, I'm sure that won't be a problem," Sayaka laughed. "You look great!" 

"I hope so," Madoka sighed, smiling. "I do hope so." 

 

When they had been going to school, the three of them had frequented a diner a few blocks away; Sayaka had scoped it out the night before to ensure that it was still there and relatively safe, then invited Hitomi to meet them there. It was dirtier and more worn than they remembered, but so was the whole city, and Madoka hadn't commented on it yet, so she figured it was alright. The diner itself was almost empty; they sat near the back, took their traditional orders, and waited. Madoka huffed when the waitress was out of sight.

"She didn't recognize you," she murmured. "I remember her from when we were still going to school here, and it's alright she might not recognize me, but..."

"I haven't been here for a long time," Sayaka admitted, chuckling sheepishly. Please don't ask any futher, please don't ask any further. 

"Hm." Madoka looked out the window; her brows knitted together slowly and her smile started to fade. "The atmosphere here is just slightly off," she murmured, her eyes flicking ominously to Sayaka's. "Don't you think?" 

Sayaka froze up, with a nervous smile on her face, and didn't respond. Madoka smirked, and her gaze returned to the window.

"Of course, you've lived here," she said softly. "I'm sure it's no news to you. You didn't want to say anything."

"Well, now that you bring it up like that," Sayaka murmured, "I guess it was kind of silly to hope you wouldn't notice." She sighed heavily and hung her head, her hands running along her scalp for a moment. It was out now... no hiding it. 

"It's strange how much it's changed when I was away," Madoka murmured. "And yet, how it's almost completely the same." 

"It's not the welcome home we wanted to give you," Sayaka sighed, looking back up. "You know about the situation with the Pokemon Centers, don't you...?"

Madoka nodded sagely, her eyes slipping closed. "Mother works in the industry, you know," she murmured. "It's all she can talk about these days. Everyone's so powerless... it's hard on her." She sighed and looked down, her fingers drawing figure-eights on the table in front of her. 

"You haven't been doing anything dangerous, have you?" she mumbled, after a short pause; it took Sayaka a moment to realize she was being asked a question. "When you're out of work like this, and you have to pay to heal your Pokemon... you can't afford to do anything risky, right?" 

"Yeah," Sayaka gulped. Madoka nodded. 

"That's good," she murmured. "I really hope we can all stay out of trouble until this is over." 

 

Time passed. They were quiet for a while; Sayaka got the impression that she was waiting for Hitomi before saying anything else. But their orders came first. They ate, slowly and quietly, but Sayaka found that her appetite was slowly draining away. 

When her phone started to buzz, she glanced down at it - and saw the number and name attached were Hitomi's! She sighed with relief and held it up to her ear. "Hey, Hitomi," she sang, trying not to sound too elated. 

"Not quite," an unfamiliar, feminine voice purred. 

 

Sayaka went white. Madoka blinked, her eyes widening. "What's wrong?" Madoka gasped; Sayaka reeled, suddenly nauseous, her mind racing; she clamped her free hand over the phone and looked back up, doing her very best to smile.

"I have to go," she gulped. "I - I mean I have to take this. I'll be back, okay?" 

"Sayaka?" Madoka didn't sound angry, or disappointed, at all. She sounded worried. Sayaka's heart sank even further at the sound of it. 

"Oh, the food," Sayaka gasped, fumbling in her pockets for a card - which she slapped down on the table beside Madoka. "If I'm not back in time, lunch is on me, alright? Okay, I'll be back!" Then she turned and dashed out of the diner, before Madoka could react. 

"Who is this?" Sayaka hissed, as soon as she was out of Madoka's hearing range. 

"Gosh, for a second there I thought you'd hung up," the voice chortled. "Sayaka Miki!" She said the voice in singsong. "The way your friend here tells the story, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd just left her to die at all!"

"How dare you," Sayaka snarled. "Where is Hitomi!?" 

"She's with me," the girl cooed. "I like her, actually, so I think I'm just going to hold on to her for a while. How do you feel about that, Hitomi?" Sayaka heard movement - and then Hitomi's voice, in a loud and angry squeal, followed by a heavy thud. 

"UNHAND ME," Hitomi shouted. "YOU LET ME OUT OF HERE THIS INSTANT! IF MY FAMILY HEARS EVEN ONE WORD OF THIS - " 

"They won't, I think," the original voice chuckled. "Sayaka, don't you think your friend talks too much? I could fix that for you if you'd like."

Hitomi went suddenly silent - and then screamed, this time in terror. "Please don't!" she whimpered, her voice notably weaker than before. "Oh, god, no, don't - whatever you're doing - "

"Relax," the voice giggled. "I'm just going to take out your tongue, that's all. That's not so bad, right?" 

"No!" Hitomi yelped, but Sayaka cried out at the same time, too. "Sayaka!" Hitomi cried. "Sayaka, help me! Please!" 

There was another slamming sound - this one sounded much more like flesh - and Hitomi gave a muffled grunt, followed by a few other sounds of movement. "Well, I suppose that did most of the explaining for me, didn't it?" the girl laughed. 

"You monster!" Sayaka roared. "Where are you!? You're going to regret this!" 

"If you want Hitomi back," she sang, "you'll meet me at the shipyard tonight at midnight, alone. But if you want revenge, well... my enforcer would be happy to teach you another lesson." 

_Click._


	5. Episode 1.5

When Sayaka arrived, she was not surprised to see the enforcer there, waiting. At first she saw only a silhouette and thought she was smoking; when the girl hopped down and approached, she realized that wasn't quite right. The girl thrust out a box in offering.

"Pocky?" 

Sayaka glared at her, motionless. "Give me Hitomi," she said darkly. 

The girl sighed. "You're gonna be here a while. Have a pocky." 

"I don't want anything of yours," Sayaka hissed. 

"Suit yourself." She crunched the one between her lips down, and deftly slipped out another to snack on instead, turning and walking back to the stack of crates she had been waiting on. 

The shipyard was nearly abandoned, a legacy of a much poorer and more industrial Goldenrod; anymore, only private companies did any shipping here, and there were increasingly few of those as the port wasn't maintained well enough to meet the needs of most businesses in the city proper. The more practical approach was to ship to Olivine. Sayaka had had this explained to her a couple of times before by her higher-class, more business-savvy friends, but even so, she didn't understand why it was still here - why the officials hadn't cleared it out for something nicer and less prone to crime... just like this. 

She followed the girl, staying within close range, not terribly eager to let her out of sight or her guard down. She had come alone, as requested; no need to involve or endanger anyone else, no need for Madoka to know any more than she already did. She didn't know how she was going to pull this off, but... she couldn't leave Hitomi here. She couldn't just abandon her... especially after she'd only gotten involved in this at Sayaka's request. 

The only good news was, it was raining. That made Sayaka's plans much easier, and it made it more likely to surprise her opponents.

"Name's Kyouko," the girl said, as she leaned back, arms behind her head. "Kinda rude of me not to tell you last time." 

"It was rude of you to attack me," Sayaka muttered, folding her arms. 

"That was just business," Kyouko said dismissively, waving one hand. "You know how it is, by now, don't you? It's like I said; you take care of your own, and I take care of mine." She spread her arms wide, grinning. "I appreciate that you took your friends off the streets. I'm glad we could come to an agreement."

"I only did it so you wouldn't hurt them," Sayaka hissed.

"And now, I won't have to," Kyouko agreed, satisfied. "It's a shame about this other girl, though. Did you really send her?" Sayaka was quiet, barely restraining her sneer. She wasn't about to open up about her guilt to this random bitch. "I mean," Kyouko continued casually, "I know it's not out of the question for someone that disliked you to do this to try to bring you down, or something. She'd have to be crazy, but, there are some crazy people out there." 

"Most of us aren't anything like you," Sayaka growled. "Where is she?" 

Kyouko's smile faded; the pocky migrated from one side of her mouth to the other. "You're in a bad mood," she observed, somewhat sourly. "So she really is a friend of yours?" 

"That's not any of your business, is it?" 

"No," Kyouko agreed, shrugging. "No, I guess it's not." She pushed herself up, sliding the box of pocky into a pocket in her jacket. "Well, Miki, I can take you to her, if you give me your Pokemon first."

"No." 

"You've gotta." Kyouko showed a disgustingly sympathetic smile. "I don't make the rules." 

"What, as collateral?" 

"Nope." Her eyes flashed - something in her expression changed, and she didn't look so reassuring anymore. But she also didn't look... threatening, not directly. Sayaka didn't know what to make of it at all. "Not collateral. Ransom." 

"Ransom?" Sayaka tried to keep her voice down, but her adrenaline was building and her heart was racing - that made it very hard to stay calm. "Who the hell do you think you are?" 

"It's not me," Kyouko growled. "It's my boss. Figures you can't cause any more trouble if we take your Pokemon for good." 

As if. Sayaka felt a surge of rage at the very idea. "I'm not going to give up my partners and friends to you like belongings," she snarled. "That's disgusting." 

"Yeah, I figured a goody-two-shoes like you wouldn't get it," Kyouko sighed, shrugging as though with resignation - though the strange, hateful light in her eyes had not gone out. "You only have two options, Miki. Either you give your Pokemon to me, or I beat them up and take them from you by force."

"You're a disgrace," Sayaka snorted. Her arm flashed out - and Fang was beside her, pounding one fist into her other palm, grinning expectantly. "Fang's excited for her payback." Kyouko's face darkened further, her brow knitted and lips taut. Almost reluctantly, she tossed out her own Pokeball; this time a Raichu met them. "Blast it," Sayaka ordered immediately. "Your illusion tricks won't work a second time." 

The 'Raichu' darted out of the way of Fang's initial burst, and lashed out with its tail; Fang deflected the blow with the tough scales on her forearm. Sayaka had come prepared this time. She had noticed the way that Rua had attacked with only forward, physical aggression until the very end of the battle - until she was cornered - and had instructed Fang to be ready for hand-to-hand combat. "You're taking a pretty serious risk," Kyouko observed lowly. "You think I'm going to try the same thing twice?" 

"I'm calling your bluff," Sayaka huffed. "I don't think you have a Pokemon for every situation. There aren't any trainers here that well armed."

"Tch. You'd be surprised." But, as Kyouko spoke, Fang launched a bolt of pressurized water at the Raichu that finally connected; sure enough, it shimmered and turned black, and Rua's vulpine form was revealed, disgruntled and soaked. "You made a good call this time," Kyouko added, sounding impressed. "But I didn't need illusions to beat your Croconaw last time." 

"I seem to recall that you did," Sayaka retorted. "Like we discussed, Fang!" 

Prey now revealed, Fang threw back her arms and lifted; the sound of rushing water surrounded them, and within moments, the tide had risen high enough that water was seeping out onto the docks. Kyouko jumped when she realized, and Sayaka smirked, striding around confidently - in rain boots. "What the hell - ?"

"You invited me," Sayaka huffed, "someone you know raises a Water-type Pokemon, to the seaside - in the rain. You guys either aren't as smart as you like to sound, or this is where your base is, right?" 

Kyouko laughed - Sayaka couldn't tell whether she looked angry or delighted. "Looks like I underestimated you!" 

"Yeah," Sayaka muttered, her own smile fading swiftly, as Fang hunkered down onto all fours. "Yeah, you really did." 

Fang was a tough and competent fighter on dry land, but she was a menace in the water. Sayaka had learned to swim long ago, when Fang was still young, so that they could play together; and she knew there was no way any human could keep up with Fang's swimming speed, nor her agility. Even though the water was just up to Sayaka's shins, it was high enough that Kyouko felt a need to climb up one crate, and Fang was more than happy to swim in it like a lake, jetting forward suddenly at Rua and tackling her into a shipping container without warning. Rua wormed her way free and leapt up on top of the container - a momentary escape, but Sayaka knew she couldn't fight back as effectively up there; her ranged attack options had to be mediocre at best. She was trapped on the high ground - for once, a disadvantage, because unless she faced Sayaka and Fang directly, they could just keep on walking with impunity. 

"I don't like to threaten people," Sayaka called. "Recall your Pokemon and show us where Hitomi is." 

"Tch." Kyouko's smile faded, too. "What did I tell you last time? This our job. You're not gonna intimidate us that easily."

"Your job," Sayaka repeated darkly. "Working for someone that would kidnap an innocent girl and threaten to mutilate her?" 

Kyouko winced. "That's not my - "

"It is your business!" Sayaka roared. "You work for her! You can't just sit there and turn a blind eye to her and pretend it's not your problem! That just makes you as bad as she is!" 

"How dare you!" Kyouko shouted, jumping to her own feet. "You don't have any right to talk! You don't understand what we're doing here, or why it's important!"

"You keep saying you're taking care of your own." Sayaka paused - Fang had jetted back and shoulder-charged the container, toppling it and forcing Rua to jump to a nearby shipping crane, and Fang shot water at her to keep her moving. "If that was what you were doing, we wouldn't be fighting! Your 'people' are hurting innocents and you're just standing by letting it happen!" 

Kyouko glared at her, but her eyes seemed dimmer than before, and had nothing to say. Rua continued to circle them, dashing away as fast as she could - but Fang was far too fast here, and easily kept up. It was only a matter of time until she could knock Rua back down, and when that happened... she'd have to make good on her threat. She hoped it didn't come to that. 

"I'm willing to believe that you want to be better than this," Sayaka cried. "Recall your Pokemon!" 

"I'm just doing my job," Kyouko murmured. 

"I know! That's why I'm offering this to you! But if you don't - " 

"You'll hurt Rua." Kyouko looked down; her bangs were soaked through in the rain, and hung down matted over her face. "Yeah, I know. That's how this works." 

"You're just going to abandon her?!" Sayaka's eyes widened. 

She heard a great splash to her left, and whirled - Fang had been knocked down, and Rua was shimmering into existence behind her; some kind of trick, and Sayaka saw a gash on Fang's shoulder. But, it wasn't good enough. Fang spun in the water like a jetski and tackled the fox, wrapping her huge jaws around Rua's neck - Sayaka's heart jumped into her throat and she cried out something indistinct, but Fang had already stopped. She wouldn't deliver such an injury without Sayaka's consent. 

She looked back at Kyouko - who had reached out, and looked shocked and alarmed herself. She withdrew once she realized Fang had shown mercy, but the damage was done; their eyes met, and Sayaka waited. _Surrender,_ she pleaded. She didn't want to have to do this! She wanted to believe. 

_Please surrender._

"You're a fool, Miki," Kyouko said, but her voice was weak. 

"Show us where she is," Sayaka said firmly. "We'll let her go." 

"I hate that I believe you," Kyouko murmured. 

"Just say the word and I'll call Fang off!" Sayaka promised. 

 

Fang let out a sound. Sayaka didn't really catch what it was - but it wasn't a good sound.

She gasped and whirled - Rua was alone, coughing and standing up in the water; Fang had been thrown into the trunk of the shipping crane, with enough force that the metal supports had dented in. Beside Fang was a - Heracross? Sayaka whirled back to see that Rua was still there, stumbling backwards towards Kyouko, so not an illusion; and when she looked to Fang again, there was another girl there entirely. Sayaka somehow knew immediately who it was; this was the girl on the phone. 

She grinned at Sayaka, as she walked through the ankle-deep water as though it were just an ordinary rainstorm, one hand in her own jacket while the other carried an Ultra Ball. She had long, brown hair and bright blue eyes not unlike Sayaka's; she wore a long, black coat with a skirt beneath it, but tied around her sleeve was the telltale green band. The Heracross rammed its horn into Fang's neck and pinned her against the crane; Sayaka saw her squirm and seize up. "Sayaka Miki," the girl crooned. "God, what a pain in the ass you've been." 

"Let her go!" Sayaka cried. "You're choking her!" 

"I saw you about to snap that Zoroark's neck," the girl observed mildly. "Seems kinda like this would be fair play in your book, huh?" 

"I wasn't going to," Sayaka protested. "I'd already defeated her - "

"Well, that's a mistake," the girl interrupted, coolly. "A Pokemon's not defeated until it stops moving, Sayaka." 

She glanced over to Fang, who was presently clawing at the Heracross' horn, and back to Sayaka. 

"Or until the trainer surrenders," she added sweetly. 

Sayaka's eyes grew wide - she snarled, and threw her other Pokeball directly at the stranger; Zhen popped out of it, already pointed right at her throat, but was batted aside by a blur, and Sayaka saw that Rua had snatched him and pinned him against a crate by his sash with a bolt of shadow. She whirled back to Kyouko, who was watching this procession grimly. 

"That was savage of you," the stranger gasped. "Why, I might've died." Sayaka didn't know what to say to that. She - didn't mean for it to happen that way; she just meant to send Zhen out... "You understand, we can't keep someone as dangerous as you around," she continud conversationally. 

"Okay, stop," Sayaka gasped. "I'll - I'll surren-"

"Not good enough," the girl sighed. "Maybe if you'd been a good girl and given your Pokemon to Kyouko like I'd - "

 

A brilliant orange light flooded the dock, and the Heracross let out a shrill squeal of pain, stumbling backwards. Sayaka turned, dumbfounded, to see Kyouko's arm outstretched, a Pokeball clutched in her fist - and before her, a Houndour, with fire still brimming in its jaws. Fang stumbled to the ground, wheezing, and Sayaka took the opportunity to swiftly recall her before any further harm could come to her, letting out a huge sigh of relief. On her other side, Rua released Zhen, and understanding that this was defeat, she recalled him, too - but even so, she turned to Kyouko, totally baffled. 

"Your friend's in the crane control tower, back that way." Kyouko nodded forward, towards where Sayaka had come from; there were a series of catwalks there, and Sayaka saw that a light was on in the tower. "You better go." 

Sayaka didn't know what to say. She couldn't even will herself to ask why. 

"Kyouko," the girl said, icily, as her Heracross recovered. "What the _fuck_ was that?" 

"She surrendered," Kyouko said evenly. "You didn't need to hurt her anymore." 

Sayaka took that opportunity to bolt. She expected to be chased - but wasn't - and soon, she slowed, fearing that Kyouko was taking the beating that had been meant for her, instead. But when she climbed the tower to Hitomi, and looked out at the dock, she didn't see any signs of fighting... or even that they had been there. Without Fang, the water had receded to its normal depth, and the Greensleeves were both gone. 

The door was locked, but Zhen happily bashed it open for her. Hitomi sat in one of the swivelling chairs, her arms bound behind her back and a band of duct tape over her mouth. She glared at Sayaka as she approached - in that sort of annoyed way that Sayaka knew meant she was unharmed. 

"Took you long enough," Hitomi muttered angrily, as Sayaka unbound her. Sayaka noticed that the girl had tied a green band around her sleeve - she tugged it, and the tie gave way and it came off agreeably, so she tossed it aside with disgust. 

"Come on," Sayaka murmured. "I dunno where they went, but I'm not sure how long before they come looking for me." 

Hitomi nodded, and they climbed down together, silent. The rain was slowly intensifying; they huddled under awnings as soon as they could, and to Sayaka's surprise, Hitomi hooked one arm around Sayaka's, staying close. But they didn't speak until they were well out of the lower section; Sayaka was, of course, walking Hitomi home first. 

 

"How bad is it?" Hitomi sighed, as they made it to cover beneath the archway of Hitomi's front door. Sayaka tried to look at her like she had no idea what she was talking about. "Your Pokemon," Hitomi said angrily. "They fought, didn't they? Are they okay?" 

They weren't. Sayaka remembered, with despair, that Fang was not okay at all. She reluctantly let the poor Croconaw out - Fang quickly straightened herself out, but the bruising on her neck was all too clear. Hitomi whimpered, and withdrew a small bundle of potions from her purse without pause, offering them to Sayaka, who tried to wave them away. "No, I can - " 

But Hitomi shoved them into her hands. "Take them, you idiot," she hissed, her voice shaking. "Your best friend almost died saving me, let me thank you." 

Sayaka sighed, and nodded, accepting them gingerly. "Thanks," she murmured, defeated. "I'm really sorry, Hitomi." 

"Well, you met her, didn't you," Hitomi huffed. "So - I succeeded, at least." Sayaka looked at her, in shock, and Hitomi swiftly looked away. "That's - that's good enough. I'm going inside now."

"Okay," Sayaka murmured. "Um... good night." 

She nodded. "Thank you, Sayaka." Then she darted inside, and that was that. 

 

Hitomi was the one to take initiative the next day. Sayaka and Madoka found themselves invited to a group chat, and Hitomi arranged a day out at the mall for the three of them. By two o'clock, they had all met outside, and Hitomi was her sweet smiling self again. Sayaka apologized to Madoka; Madoka laughed and said it was alright, and she hoped everything was okay.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it," Sayaka murmured, faking giggles, "but a friend of mine had a health scare, and - "

"Oh no!" Madoka gasped. "Are they okay?" 

"Yeah, it was a false alarm," Sayaka chuckled, grinning. "But we had to rush them to the ER and everything, so it was kind of a big deal."

"Well, I'm glad you were there for them, anyway," Madoka sighed, smiling with relief. 

And then Hitomi led them on their shopping trip. She and Madoka got along beautifully, and soon Madoka was repeating the same gushing review of Kalos that she'd given Sayaka the day before. But at length, Hitomi managed to slip back while Madoka was looking through a rack of jackets and tops, smiling shyly at everything that seemed to suit her. 

"Sayaka," Hitomi whispered, softly but urgently. Sayaka nodded. Hitomi smiled. "How is she?" 

"Lots better," Sayaka murmured. "Thanks." 

"Seems like you handled Madoka well," Hitomi added. "Well done." Sayaka shrugged. "So... what's next?"

"What's next?" Sayaka grimaced. But she didn't know how to answer that. Fang had almost died... she wasn't even sure what to feel about it, and wondered if the numbness was normal or would give way to something else. For now, it was hard to believe there was anything she _could_ do.

"Sayaka, I was there with that girl." Hitomi, by contrast, looked deathly serious. "She's insane. She's the person you've been after all this time?" 

"I guess so," Sayaka murmured. Madoka dashed up to them with a top and a skirt, beaming; Hitomi remarked that they looked nice together, and suggested that she try them on, and Madoka nodded and dashed away again. 

"Sayaka," she hissed, urgently, "someone has to stop her. It's probably not me, and I don't know, maybe it's not you. But..." 

She trailed off. Sayaka took a deep breath. 

"We'll see what we can do," she muttered, shaking her head. 

"Yeah, I guess so," Hitomi agreed quietly. She took a few steps forward, before turning back to smile at Sayaka, resuming her cheerful aura. "In the meantime," she added more clearly, "pick out an outfit on me, okay?" 

"You're buying me clothes," Sayaka murmured, raising an eyebrow. "Me?" 

"I've decided I don't think you're hopeless anymore," she chuckled. "Maybe you can be saved after all."


	6. Episode 2

> `Seiunchan: Anyway, I should get to bed. `  
>  `Mikoto: You, sleep at a reasonable hour?`  
>  `Seiunchan: It's not like you to tease.`  
>  `Seiunchan: Besides, you know that my insomnia is all your fault.`  
>  `Mikoto: When you put it that way, you make it sound irresponsible.`  
>  `Seiunchan: How rude.`  
>  `Mikoto: You haven't needed to stay up late for a while, have you?`  
>  `Mikoto: Ever since Mirage disbanded.`  
>  `Seiunchan: That depends on how you see it.`  
>  `Seiunchan: I might say I've never needed to stay up, not really.`  
>  `Seiunchan: My work has always been a labor of love.`  
>  `Mikoto: Is that...`  
>  `Mikoto: An innuendo?`  
>  `Seiunchan: Are you teasing again?`  
>  `Mikoto: I might be.`  
>  `Seiunchan: You really do miss me, don't you?`  
>  `Seiunchan: Are you jealous? :)`  
>  `Mikoto: I might be.`  
>  `Seiunchan: Dear me, that sounds dangerous.`  
>  `Seiunchan: You might do something drastic.`  
>  `Mikoto: Like what? There isn't really much I could do, short of coming to find you.`  
>  `Seiunchan: If nothing else, that would certainly be romantic of you, wouldn't it?`  
>  `Mikoto: Are you suggesting something?`  
>  `Seiunchan: I'm daydreaming, mostly. Though I guess that's silly, given that it's past midnight.`  
>  `Mikoto: It's only eleven where you are. It's still a reasonable hour.`  
>  `Seiunchan: But if this goes on much longer, it won't be!  
> ` `Seiunchan: Good night!  
> ` `Mikoto: Good night.`


	7. Episode 2.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Leaf doesn't have an official name, we're calling her Midori.

Kyouko groaned as she heard the apartment door slam closed. She had dozed off; it was early evening, the low sun shining through the glass doors out to the deck. Out here, near the dock where the apartment buildings had all been abandoned, the views weren't as good as they could be - but they were luxurious by Kyouko's standards, at least. 

She sighed, and sat up, shaking her head briskly and looking up. Midori flashed a brilliantly mischievous smile, and wiggled her fingers in a playful greeting. "You look sleepy," she chided. "We get started in an hour, you know."

"Shit." Kyouko looked outside again, and pushed herself upright, while Midori sashayed into the kitchen; Midori had probably gone to get herself something to eat, and Kyouko knew better than to ask if Midori had gotten any for her. If she had, she would have presented it to her by now. And if not... she'd be pretty angry to be asked. 

"You haven't really been yourself the last few days," Midori called from the other room. Kyouko's hair had come untied; she was fishing around the couch for her hair tie. "You still thinking about the fish that got away?" 

"No," Kyouko lied. Not like it would make a difference. 

"I'm not mad at you about it," Midori continued easily. "But it really feels like it's nagging at you. It's like I keep telling you, Kyo; all you have to do is whatever I say, and you'll be fine." 

"Yeah," Kyouko mumbled, lifting up her hair tie from the couch, where it had fallen between seats; she glanced at it, considering still putting it on. It didn't seem obviously dirty, but even so, this was not exactly a nice couch, and she didn't trust that void between the cushions for a second. Still... to have to throw it away... she'd already lost one a few days ago - that night with Sayaka - and she was running low. She hated wasting things. But it wasn't like it was food or something... it was just a hair tie. She sighed and lobbed it into the trash.

"I don't know why you'd waste time feeling bad," Midori continued - now much closer; Kyouko whirled to see her walk back into the living room, all smiles. "I already punished you and all," she cooed - lashing out suddenly with her hand, but only to grip Kyouko's cheek, though Kyouko flinched anyway; Midori's grip was firm, and she angled Kyouko's head to look beneath her bangs, her smile growing ever so slightly, and turning quite dark. "Still have the black eye, even," she cooed. 

"Shove off," Kyouko hissed, pushing her back - though lightly; she couldn't... be actually forceful with Midori, or she'd get very angry, and - you don't piss off your employer. You just don't. "Most people would call that domestic abuse, you know," Kyouko continued angrily. 

"We're not most people," Midori sighed, rolling her eyes. "You know how it is, Kyo. Someone steps out of line, I've got to punish them. If you become an exception then _everyone_ will want to get away with things, and people will realize it's only because you get into my pants, and it'll be a nightmare. We just can't have any of that, you understand?" 

"It's the only reason I let you do it," Kyouko snarled, folding her arms. She had definitely allowed Midori to do it - it had been a very agreed-upon affair. Midori wasn't the sort of person to get upset about 'insubordination'. When Sayaka had fled, she'd conceded defeat gracefully, recalled her Pokemon, and approached Kyouko to talk about 'next steps'. That was always what they did, when they had disagreements - which was increasingly often, now. "I just don't like you looking at it like I'm your kid or something." 

"Kyouko, we're girlfriends," Midori protested. "Is it wrong of me to take an interest in how you're healing?"

"Some girlfriend you make," Kyouko growled, tossing her head. She froze, regret suddenly flooding her, but before she could do any kind of damage control Midori lunged - seizing Kyouko's collar and throwing her backwards against the wall; Kyouko's vision swam from the sudden impact, the back of her head throbbing, as Midori leaned in close, smiling icily. 

"You're lucky I've known you so long," Midori purred, her eyes lidded seductively. "I know you're the sort of girl that says all sorts of horrible things she doesn't really mean." 

"Let go," Kyouko tried to protest. It came out as a whimper, and Midori giggled, licking her lips. 

"See, just like that," she breathed. "You love this, don't you? Your cheeks get so red and you breathe so deeply, any time I take charge of you like this. Why can't you just admit it?" 

"I don't - I don't want to, right now," Kyouko simpered, her hands scrambling for purchase, to somehow push herself up a little more. 

Midori tutted above her, and leaned in - locking their lips together without hesitation, and Kyouko's thoughts melted away as Midori thrust her tongue into Kyouko's mouth and took total command of her. There was no helping it. She had a weakness, as much as she hated it. 

"Fine then," Midori sighed, as she pulled away; Kyouko realized she was panting, and her eyes didn't want to open. She slumped, humiliated. "Aww!" Above her, Midori giggled again. "Alright, alright. Apology accepted, Kyouko! Now get up and get ready to go!" 

Kyouko skidded down the wall a little when Midori released her - still fairly off-balance from the forceful movement - but she did recover quickly, slowly pushing herself fully upright and hiding her face in her free hand. Her thoughts were in tatters, now; she couldn't focus on anything, except what had just happened, and how badly it had affected her. _Damn it, damn it, damn it._ Nothing for it. Midori was right; they had work soon. She had to go get ready. 

 

'Work' meant gathering the troops. When Kyouko was just stepping out of the shower, her phone buzzed - a group message sent to remind everyone that they were meeting that night. Midori sashayed into the bedroom while Kyouko was getting dressed, putting finishing touches on her own makeup, and they each tied their green bands around their arms with a sort of reverence. Midori sighed briskly and grinned once they had both finished. 

"It feels nice, you know," she cooed. "We've made this thing from nothing."

Kyouko was quiet. Midori was much more eloquent about this sort of thing than she was; if she spoke up she'd probably just say something depressing on accident. 

"You and me started from the very bottom of society," Midori continued; she stood, and began to gesture, raising her voice a bit playfully. Kyouko knew this was important, though; she had to warm up, after all, if she wanted to address the whole gang at once. Midori had always been good with words; Kyouko often wondered how much of that was practice, just like this. "We were rejected by people that thought they were better than us," she continued, slamming a fist into her palm. "Because we were poor, or because we weren't the same."

 _Not me,_ Kyouko thought morosely. Midori had been born into poverty. Kyouko... Kyouko had not. But when she was very small, her parents had been arrested. Their income was based on scamming people through a cult that they ran - though Kyouko had not figured out those details until much later. At the time, all she knew is that they had lied to her - they had betrayed her. 

But still, Kyouko had nothing because her parents taken advantage of others. No part of that was fair, was it? 

She realized Midori had stopped, and blinked herself back to awareness. "You really aren't yourself, are you," Midori said softly; she was staring at Kyouko, hesitating mid-stride and mid-gesture, with a distantly worried expression. 

"I'm just still waking up," Kyouko lied, waving her hand dismissively. "Don't let me stop you."

"You were clearly thinking about something," Midori said evenly, slowly folding her arms. "I know that face of yours. You don't look that tense unless something's on your mind."

Kyouko sighed, and looked away. "Just - I dunno. I'm not the same as you guys, I guess. Am I?"

"Your situation is a bit different," Midori agreed, her voice lower than before. "Hm. Maybe I should..." She cleared her throat, and resumed her pacing. "We were rejected by people that thought they were better than us," she repeated. "They judged us for things that weren't under our control, that weren't our fault, or just plain weren't their business." She turned and grinned to Kyouko. "Yeah?" 

"Yeah." Kyouko smiled tiredly back. Midori's smile, the burning passion in her eyes, were so captivating; whatever it was that had been bogging her down earlier, it felt Midori's gaze was burning it away, so that Kyouko could fly. 

"So we fought back," Midori continued. "We took from them what they didn't take good care of. We found places to hide, food to eat, and friends that would help us." She tapped her belt, where her three Pokeballs waited. "And we made a pretty damn good team, I think," she added, now with a softer smile. "And because of that, we're here, and we can build something successful out of the nothing they gave us. We can get big, Kyouko! We could run this damn city!" 

"Do you really think so?" Kyouko liked to pretend to be skeptical. It was a prompt. "Goldenrod's awful big, you know."

"It's smaller than it looks," Midori cooed. "And as long as they keep insisting on pushing people down, we'll always have allies. This whole thing with the Pokemon Centers is just the beginning. All we have to do is appeal to the right crowd, and we'll have enough muscle to do anything we want."

"What do you want?" Kyouko asked, pretending she didn't ask this every time. She had worked hard on her 'innocently awestruck' expression, and Midori lit up when she put it on.

"I want the world, Kyouko," she purred, leaning down and crawling onto the bed beside her - putting their faces intimately close. Kyouko followed her, smiling, welcoming the rush. "I want everyone to know that they've wronged us, and I want to make them make up for it. And then? I want to make an empire."

"An empire?" Kyouko breathed. 

"Mhm." She crawled further still, pushing Kyouko back towards the headboard. Midori was steadily getting closer. "Where strong trainers protect weaker trainers, where people that have things provide for people that don't. Where everyone works together in a team, just like you and I did when we were kids, and there's no room for this 'haves' and 'don't-haves' shit." Kyouko's back was to the headboard now; Midori pressed their foreheads together. "How's that sound?"

"Sounds tough," Kyouko mouthed. Midori beamed.

"I do enjoy a good challenge."


	8. Episode 2.2

The safehouse wasn't far from their flat; rather than operate in any single place, like a store that could be found and shut down, Midori and Kyouko distributed medicines to loyal members of the gang, and they took them and brought back a quota. That quota had to cover the cost of maintaining the safehouse, and their apartment - and a number of other meeting and living spaces that the Greensleeves used more openly. Operation was expensive, after all. 

Kyouko had her own quota to meet, but she was allowed to take as much as she wanted, within reason, and she didn't have any oversight because she hadn't once failed to meet her quota. She had a route that she walked, through parts of the city that the other gang members usually never went, and she had a number of clients that she met with every week to make sure they were doing alright. Some of them didn't even know she was part of a gang. And she really liked it that way. 

The route took her out of the city - down towards Route 34, where she knew some trainers camped out. At all times, Rua walked beside her; in the city she took the form of another girl, based loosely off of Midori's appearance but with Kyouko's hair color - as though they were siblings - and on the road, she took the form of a hulking Machamp, which they had only seen once but proved generally threatening enough to prevent battles from breaking out. The trainers on the road were usually pretty nice, and didn't feel a need to fight over the medicine. And, if they did... Rua put that to rest pretty fast. 

At the end of the route, Kyouko always found herself at the borders of Ilex forest. Normally, she turned back right away; much longer out, and the sun would be rising. But Kyouko and Rua were used to working this late, and tonight, they weren't in any hurry to get home. She had a few extra super potions left over - even aside from the stock she normally kept for herself - and she held one in her hand as she walked. It wasn't like her to take more than she needed... a part of her, some nervous impulse, wanted her to play with it, but she didn't dare. Even back before the inflation, one of these would have set her back most of a day's 'work'. Now... they were nearly five times that much. She couldn't forgive herself if she dropped one. 

She paced, briefly, beneath the eaves of the first few trees; she should go home, but something pulled at her mind, made her feel restless. It was the feeling she got when she needed to walk, by herself, for a while. Even though she'd just done that. She sighed, looking deeper into the woods, studying the quiet shadows, not sure what exactly she was looking for, but just... staring. 

Rua was the one that stepped forward, turning back curiously with the Machamp's weird beak-face. "Not in a hurry, either, huh?" She nodded. Kyouko smirked, and shook her head, starting forward to match her. "Alright, fine. We can stay out for a little while."

Kyouko wasn't really a stranger to the forest; when she and Midori had to retreat to the route, escaping pursuit or riding out some mistake, her walks had taken her here frequently. She liked that it was dark here during the day; it felt like she was always safe here, that she could walk wherever she liked and go unseen. Rua must have felt it too; once they were out of sight from the road, she shifted back into her human form, and began to wander more independently, staying close to Kyouko but not necessarily by her side. Kyouko watched, smiling faintly to herself. She wondered if Rua missed the woods, seeing as she'd always loved it here, too. 

...it was a good thing she had been able to come back at all.

 

Further in, at the center of a tiny, well-worn clearing, there was a moss-covered shrine that Kyouko remembered well; this was as far south as she had gone. As always, Rua trotted over to it, reverting to her true form, and settled down on her knees in reverence, almost as though she were praying. Kyouko usually hung back; she didn't have a whole lot of patience for spirituality. It wasn't like it had done her any good; people that wanted for some outside intervention to save them were suckers. If you couldn't count on your own goddamn parents to provide for you, then you sure as hell couldn't expect some sort of divine favor from putting your hard-earned coin into a little wooden box. 

...Usually, Kyouko thought that. But tonight, she stared at it somberly, unable to summon her usual indignance. 

It was a nice little shrine. It was so very quiet, even though the main path through the woods went by here. The air was still and the moonlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, casting pale blue all around in speckles. It felt safe and reverent. Kyouko wondered if this was to a Pokemon, rather than a traditional 'god'. She'd never bothered to find out. 

Hesitantly, she approached - sitting on her knees, beside Rua. Rua glanced over, without moving her head, but Kyouko knew she was curious. 

"This kind of place isn't really my thing," she grumbled. She heard Rua snort, quietly, and her cheeks grew hot. Kyouko didn't really think of herself as a great liar, but Rua had a keener than usual sense for it. "So what, am I supposed to light some incense?"

Rua shook her head. There was a little offering tray at the center of the shrine; in defiance, Kyouko glared at it. Why should she? Why would she? What had this little box done for her? 

"I dunno why I'm even sitting here," she growled. "You didn't survive that fight because some god decided to spare you. That's stupid. I refuse that." 

Rua let out a lower growl, almost like a hum, and turned her attention back to the shrine. Kyouko shrunk a little. 

 

"Why am I like this?" she whispered. 

Rua didn't answer her.

"Why can't I just say what I mean?" She took in a deep, slow breath. "Like it makes me a coward to wonder if there's a reason we're still here, other than being lucky. Like... am I really that pathetic, that I care that much, with nobody even here listening?"

She looked over at Rua, glaring, trying to pretend her eyes weren't stinging, as if that mattered. Rua's eyes had closed. "You almost died," she continued, her voice shaking. "And I'm still just the same idiot as I was that night. I almost got you killed because I didn't have the guts to admit she'd beaten me. What kind of awful trainer does that make me?" 

Rua let out a long breath - a sigh - and one of her hands reached across and set gently on Kyouko's thigh. Kyouko thrashed instinctively, making to pull away - but she stopped herself and looked away, hissing angrily. "I don't deserve you," she choked. "You know? All this time you've been here for me, and I wouldn't be alive - let alone doing this well, or anything close to it - without your help, and I'm just... I'm too stuck up to admit that I was scared for you."

Rua sighed again, and shifted over, leaning against Kyouko - Kyouko knew she couldn't speak, so she had to communicate in other ways. She gingerly wrapped her arms around her, letting out a heavy, shaking breath into her shoulder. 

_Might as well cry here, if you're gonna._

"I don't know why you're still with me," she sniffled. She did her best to at least be quiet about it. "You could just leave, right now, you know. I wouldn't make you come back. You're just in this to be free, right?" 

But Rua didn't move. Kyouko heard her breathing, soft and slow. Peaceful. Content.

"Why am I still like this?" Kyouko whispered. "We've gotten into trouble like this before, and I always say I'll try to do better... and then nothing happens, and this time it almost got you seriously hurt... I'm just not fit to be a trainer if I'm gonna put you in danger for my own pride like that!" 

She heard Rua snort again, and the fox nuzzled her shoulder, forcefully. Kyouko laughed, angrily. "No, you idiot, don't you get it?!" She wasn't sure if she was making fun of herself or being serious. "If you stay with me you'll get killed for sure!" In response, Rua hugged her back, and Kyouko laughed again, just holding her and doing her best to stay silent.

They separated after a bit, and Kyouko didn't look at her, not really keen on letting it stay weird. Rua didn't seem to mind. They both faced the shrine again, on their knees, silent. Kyouko wondered what time it was.

"I'm glad we had this talk," she muttered. Rua huffed, letting out a warbling growl like a chuckle. "Yeah, yeah. Make fun of me, I get it." She smiled, and shook her head. "Listen, if you're so sure you're gonna stick with me, then I'm gonna fix this. I'm gonna be a better trainer. I won't sit back and let you do everything for me just to get hurt again."

She glanced over; Rua was smiling, eyes closed again, and she looked back at the shrine, satisfied. She took a deep breath, staring at the offering tray, and with a grimace she took the spare super potions from her bag and set them gently into it, all right side up and safe. 

"Don't need these," she muttered. "I guess I might as well leave 'em for someone else, right?" Rua huffed again. "And, hell, if it helps me get stronger somehow," she sighed, "what've I got to lose?" 

 

There was a rustling behind them. Kyouko gasped and stood, whirling around in the same motion, glaring at the underbrush - there was a yelp and a thud, and a girl just barely off the path to Azalea burst through the foliage, waving her arms defensively. "I'm sorry!" the girl cried. "I didn't mean to startle you!"

"How long have you been here?" Kyouko snapped, storming forward. Rua had vanished. "What the fuck are you doing out so late?!"

"I'm sorry," the girl pleaded, "please don't hurt me, I need help, can you - can you please help me?" 

Kyouko scowled, folding her arms and taking the girl in. She had dark hair tied into twin braids that reached nearly to her hips, and red-framed glasses that made her amethyst eyes look like huge glassy plates. As Kyouko studied her she gingerly lifted a pokeball from her jacket, opening it just beside her; a strange Pokemon Kyouko hadn't seen before appeared, slumped on the ground and wheezing. It was some sort of canine quadruped, with white fur covering most of its body but a wicked black horn and tail, curved and edged like a scythe. There were several long, bloody gashes in its side - this was a Pokemon that needed attention from a center, urgently. 

"I saw you had potions," the girl whimpered, "and I know that it's a lot to ask and I can't repay you right now, but I'll do whatever I can if you can just help her, please, I don't want her to die..."

"Simmer down," Kyouko sighed. A lot of strange emotions swirled around in her heart; she wanted to be indignant, to brush this girl off, but after what she'd just said to Rua - who was surely still watching - she just... she couldn't. She had to be better. "First off, did you see the Pokemon that was with me?" Kyouko asked sternly. 

The girl's eyes grew somehow wider still, and she nodded nervously. "I won't tell anyone," she offered.

"Don't," Kyouko agreed, her eyes flashing. "That Pokemon doesn't exist, and if anyone ever asks how you know me, I was here alone. Got it?" The girl nodded; Kyouko turned back to the shrine, folding her arms and grumbling.

"Is this it?" she hissed to the wooden box. "This is your answer? Take care of this girl? And then what will you do for me, huh?" She snatched three potions from the offering box with a sneer. "I'll be waiting to see how you repay me."

She sighed again, relaxing, as she returned to the stranger. "Name's Kyouko," she said, holding the three potions out. "You?"

"H-Homura," the girl stammered, her eyes growing wide. "Oh, gosh, thank you so much..." She snatched them up, but held them gingerly - if clumsily - carefully spraying them across the creature's wounds with care. 

"They'll help," Kyouko continued, "but they won't heal her completely. Injuries that bad need to be treated at a center. I'll walk you up to Goldenrod and we'll get her taken care of." 

Homura squeaked, recalling her pokemon and beaming at Kyouko in total adoration. It was almost sickeningly cute; Kyouko had to stifle another sneer. "Thank you so, so much, Kyouko," she gasped. "Um, I'm worried I won't - "

"Be able to pay for it?" Kyouko snorted. "Yeah, figures. I'll cover you this one time, alright?"

"Thank you," she whimpered again, scurrying up alongside. "I really hope she'll be okay." 

"Yeah," Kyouko murmured, looking down at her feet as they walked back. "Yeah, I hope so too."

 

> `Kyouko: midori, i'm going to be out late tonight. a client's run into trouble and needed to be escorted to a pc, i'm staying with them to make sure nothing goes wrong.  
>  ` `Midori: oh wow how noble of you!!  
>  ` `Kyouko: i said they're a client. :/`

Kyouko winced, but laughed to herself, too. Not less than an hour after she'd promised to be 'better', whatever the hell that meant, and here she was blatantly lying to her girlfriend. How pathetic.

She glanced up; Homura was cradling a mug of coffee, her eyelids drooping. Outside the sun was steadily rising, bathing the street in golden-pink light. Kyouko was tired, sure, but not this bad. Homura had to be a normie. One of those weirdos that sleeps during the night. 

"How'd that even happen?" she asked, with annoyance barely masking concern. 

"I got in trouble," Homura murmured. 

"Yeah?" She didn't want to talk about it, then? Kyouko shifted forward. "Listen, people like you shouldn't be getting into that sort of trouble," she said lowly. "I hate when amateurs get too into this stuff. Makes me sick."

"Sorry," Homura murmured, shrinking. That was a goddamn relief; someone that at least understood they'd done something wrong. "I know I'm not a strong enough trainer for her."

"Your Pokemon?" Kyouko raised an eyebrow. 

"Saika. Her name is Saika." Homura glanced up briefly. "She's an Absol."

"Is that right." Kyouko snatched another pocky from her box, playing it between her teeth briefly; she'd offer one to Homura, but figured with her coffee, it'd be best to wait. "Well, I dunno what to tell you about that, I've never heard of an Absol," Kyouko admitted. "But if you want to raise something tough, you've gotta toughen up yourself. It sounds like you already know that." 

Homura nodded absently, and glanced away. Kyouko took the chance to look at her phone again.

> `Midori: what're they paying you??`  
>  `Midori: or are you just doing this for the heroism of it?`  
>  `Midori: i do know how much you love to be the hero!!`  
>  `Kyouko: look, with some people, you do a favor for them first and they'll be coming back forever.`  
>  `Kyouko: i feel like this girl is gonna need the help. why should that be a problem for you? i can take care of her.`  
>  `Midori: so let me rephrase this...`  
>  `Midori: you're investing into her now, so you can sell her a ton of medicine later.`  
>  `Midori: yes??`  
>  `Kyouko: if you have to put that way to be happy about it, yeah, fine. that's about right.`  
>  `Midori: that's almost pretty smooth!!  
>  ` `Midori: you'll make a killer gangster if you can keep up that attitude!!  
>  ` `Midori: it's all about growing the business~`

Kyouko started and deleted a few responses, before sighing and putting her phone away. That was good enough. Midori knew she was here.

"What happened to your eye?" Homura asked. Kyouko blinked, looking up with surprise - none of the Greensleeves dared bring it up, so she'd almost forgotten it was there. She scowled and looked away. 

"Got in trouble," she murmured. "Seems to be going around, huh?"

"I know it's dangerous here, too," Homura murmured. "But at least it's a _little_ safer, isn't it?" 

Kyouko sighed. "Yeah, if you're good at minding your own business," she said slowly. Homura shrunk a little further, setting her cup down; Kyouko sighed. "That kind of thing a challenge for you?" 

"Sort of," Homura murmured. "But either way, I just have to get tougher. I know you're right about that." 

"Or offload Saika to someone else that can handle her, if she's that much of a handful." Kyouko shrugged. "But I wouldn't blame you for being hesitant to do that." 

Homura shook her head. "She's my friend." Her voice was still quiet - tired - but it was firmer, now; it made Kyouko smile a bit. "I won't abandon her just because I'm too weak. I just have to get better."

"I like your attitude." Kyouko allowed herself a brief grin. "But you better believe if I see you getting in over your head again, I'm gonna knock some sense into you, alright?" 

Homura nodded, looking up at her. "Are you involved with the gangs here?" 

Kyouko blinked - she hadn't expected to be asked so directly. Homura's gaze was level and steady, despite the obvious haze of exhaustion in her eyes. "Yeah," she murmured, closing her own eyes. "Don't like to talk about it much, though."

"I can imagine," Homura agreed softly. "Then, yes, I'll stay out of your way, Kyouko." She yawned, petitely, and looked sidelong for a moment. "I think I'm going to stay overnight," she sighed. "Thank you for all of your help today, Kyouko."

"Don't mention it," Kyouko huffed, smirking. "Just take good care of Saika."

"Alright." She stood - shakily, at first, but quickly steadying herself. "It's just that I hate owing people." 

Kyouko couldn't restrain her grin at that. "I'm gonna stay and make sure Saika's alright," she offered. "You get some rest." Homura nodded, and plodded over to the counter to request a room.


	9. Episode 2.3

Pokemon Centers were pretty quiet anymore. Few people had the money to use them on a day to day basis. Some of the ones in small towns had even closed; Kyouko thought she'd heard that Cherrygrove didn't have one anymore, and Azalea's was looking shaky. So, it was kind of a boring couple of hours, while they worked whatever voodoo magic was necessary to heal up Saika. It was late morning when finally an attendant came to inform her that Saika was unconscious but in full recovery. She thanked the man and left.

She should have been asleep hours ago, but not only was it light outside, she didn't even feel tired. She figured she'd crash as soon as she got home, but she didn't really feel too interested in that just then. Instead, she wandered downtown Goldenrod, munching on the last few remaining Pocky and enjoying the rare blessing of sunlight. Rua wasn't with her at this point; not only was she probably pretty tired, the crowds of people around her would make maintaining any disguise difficult. 

There was a particular chain of convenience stores that she liked to get her snacks from; she knew of one in a shopping center not far from the radio tower, and made her way over there around lunchtime. She remembered, once upon a time, feeling that she'd never be able to come in here and order food. Now, here she was with a steady income and a place to stay. She could just come in and buy food. No one could tell her no, no one would be chasing her around trying to take back her only means to survive. It felt nice, to be accepted - to be just a bit closer to normal.

As she crested the staircase to the second floor, she saw a flash of blue hair in front of her - yep. Sayaka. She winced. The girl was waiting in line at a soba place, looking around impatiently, and before Kyouko could make any moves to get away, their eyes met.

There was a bit of an awkward pause. Neither of them moved for a few seconds. Then Kyouko dashed away. She had no interest in anyone thinking she was here on business - she just hurried along to her store as quickly as possible. But apparently, that wasn't good enough, because when she was checking out, she saw Sayaka waiting near the entrance, watching the storefront keenly for her. She knew there was no point in hiding, so she just walked out, glaring at Sayaka expectantly. 

"Hey," Sayaka called, waving with a little smile. Kyouko noted, with a mix of satisfaction and despair, the fear hiding behind Sayaka's eyes. There was no pretending she had not learned her lesson. This couldn't be for revenge, then...

"What do you want?" Kyouko grumped, folding her arms.

"Uh." Sayaka laughed awkwardly. "I know this is really sudden, but I - " She presented a bag; inside was a plastic container that Kyouko recognized from the soba place Sayaka had been in line for. Kyouko stared at it in disbelief. "I thought maybe I'd get you lunch," Sayaka announced, with a sort of weird pride - but also hesitation. "But I also figured you wouldn't wanna be around me, so you can just take it and go, if you want." 

"What are you, nuts?" Kyouko snarled. But she could smell it now, and it smelled _very_ good. Kyouko had not ever been good at resisting temptation, especially when it came to food. If it was there, she wanted it, and having it offered to her like this... 

"Yeah, I mean, I've gotta be, to take on a gang, right?" Sayaka laughed sheepishly, and edged forward. "C'mon, I can tell you want it!" 

"I don't want it," Kyouko lied, but it was a very unconvincing lie and she knew it; she tried to swat it out of the air, but Sayaka just laughed and kept holding it up, taunting her. "What's your deal, huh?!" Kyouko shapped. "I thought I told you I don't like owing people!" 

"Yeah, most of us don't," Sayaka retorted, "so I'm thanking you for saving Fang for me!" 

"You idiot, we were already even!" 

"No way! I just did what I always do, you actually stood up to your boss for me! You've got a black eye and everything!" Sayaka reared back and threw it - Kyouko yelped, and the thought of all of that delicious, wonderful yakisoba all over the floor broke her heart; she had no choice but to lunge for it. And before she knew it, it was hers. 

She stared at it, in defeat. Sayaka grinned, folding her own arms triumphantly. "You moron," Kyouko sighed. "Why the hell would you do something stupid like that?" 

"It worked, didn't it?" Though, Sayaka's smile faltered. "Anyway, you should learn to be grateful for people that wanna do nice things for you, you know?"

"I didn't ask for this or anything, so..." But her voice faded away. She remembered the fear and gratitude and confusion that had flooded her when Sayaka asked for her surrender. She remembered feeling so helpless. She couldn't say yes... 

"Thanks," she mumbled, turning away to try to hide the rush of blood to her face. Sayaka's smile softened. 

"Yeah, well, this is to thank you," she responded. "So, thank you, Kyouko. I thought that you gangsters were all thugs and whatever, but you - you seem pretty cool."

"I thought normies were all selfish pricks," Kyouko muttered, rolling her shoulders, "but you seem alright, too." 

Sayaka chuckled. "This might be a little forward," she said, "but do you wanna talk for a bit?"

 

They sat at a table on the bottom floor, a good ways away from the busier shops; it was quiet and isolated there, so Kyouko didn't mind relaxing a bit. She had kind of expected Sayaka to eat all proper, but that turned out not to be the case; she dug in with her chopsticks and slurped up the excess, and made no secret how much she was enjoying the taste. In fact, it was so messy that it was kind of cute, and Kyouko watched her with amusement, eating much more slowly. 

Up to now, she had been fighting off her sleepiness pretty well, but it was finally starting to catch up to her. She found herself spacing out more than once, just kind of staring at Sayaka, and when she recovred the third time Sayaka was staring at her with concern, reaching in to poke her with a chopstick. Kyouko swatted it away.

"Lost in thought," she grumped. "Let a girl think, will ya?" 

"You look tired," Sayaka murmured. "Long night?" 

"Very." Kyouko sighed and looked away. A few feet away, a young couple was fawning over a Snubbull; didn't take a genius to tell that they'd recently adopted it. "You know how it goes, though. No rest for the wicked, or something like that." 

"Heh." Sayaka leaned back briefly. "I dunno, I'd never really taken that phrase seriously, but coming from you it has a bit more weight." 

"Yep," Kyouko agreed darkly. "Wicked ol' Kyouko." 

"It just means you're busy, right?" Sayaka laughed sheepishly. "Ah, man. I didn't think that one through, I'm sorry."

"What, you're gonna apologize for calling me wicked?" Her eyes flicked back over to Sayaka, her lips curling faintly. "After I beat up your Pokemon?" 

"It's like you said," Sayaka murmured, shrugging and taking her turn to look away. The way she leaned way back, one leg even kicking up over the other - she looked more like a Greensleeve than some kind of vigilante. "You were just looking after your people, I was just looking after mine. But at the end of the day that doesn't mean we can't be civil with each other, right?"

"Yeah," Kyouko agreed softly, looking away again - but this time to hide her smile. It was hard to believe how much she liked this girl, all of a sudden. Her words resonated in Kyouko's heart, reminding her of a younger Kyouko that had pleaded with the world to just let her get by, that promised to herself that she'd be better than her parents. Maybe she'd gotten this girl wrong from the start. 

"You're nothing like your boss, I can tell," Sayaka was continuing, this time a bit more gruffly. "God, she's a scary woman. You know? How can you stand to work for someone like that?"

Kyouko was quiet, her smile fading again swiftly. She didn't move, letting her face stay masked in shadow. 

"Oops." Sayaka winced and leaned back in. "Uh, sorry, that's probably a touchy subject. Don't mind me."

"You oughtta learn to shut up at the right time," Kyouko muttered. 

"Yeah, you're not the first person to tell me that," Sayaka agreed grumpily. Kyouko glanced over, intrigued; now Sayaka was drumming her fingers on the table, her chin propped up by her other hand while she glared out at the open floor where the crowds bustled by. "I wasn't like any of my friends growing up," she sighed. "I went to a higher class school than I probably should've, and met a lot of richer people. It's tough to keep up with them, you know? All of that class and elegance and stuff... I'm just not cut out for it.

"But they like being around me 'cause I'm more relaxed," she continued, looking back at Kyouko and smiling. "Always told me not to get down about being different. So I figure - since I'm the kind of girl that has less to lose, and doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, maybe I'm the one that should be helping out with all of this crap." 

"Muggers," Kyouko repeated, quietly. "Have you had a chance to learn any more about them?" 

Sayaka laughed emptily; it was such a cold and agonized sound that Kyouko winced. "I haven't been out since last time we met," she confessed, shrugging;l her smile remained, but the fear had returned to her eyes that betrayed it. "I mean, kinda figured - after all of that, maybe it's just not for me." 

"It's not for just anyone, that's for sure," Kyouko sighed. She drummed her chopsticks against the side of her container; there was still a bit of food left, but her appetite was draining away fast. "I guess I respect that," she murmured. "Good to quit before you've lost anything. That'll make my boss happy, at least."

Sayaka was ominously quiet. Kyouko considered looking at her - but didn't really want to meet her gaze, so at first, she didn't. But the silence got heavy, and Kyouko bristled as it went on. 

"Nah." Kyouko slammed her hands down onto the table - harder than she'd meant to, but whatever; their containers clattered a bit and Sayaka jumped. "Nah, I don't believe you," she huffed. "You're gonna get back into it, eventually, right?" 

"Well, I don't know about that," Sayaka chuckled. "I mean, I'd still like to help, I just dunno if..."

"I'm just sayin', keep your eyes open," Kyouko continued brusquely, leaning back herself and gesturing. "That's always how you get things done when you're up against the odds, you know? You just gotta wait for the right opportunity and be ready to take it. Take it from me - I got by for most of my childhood stealing from places like this. You get pretty good at it that way." 

"Stealing?" She relished Sayaka's innocent surprise, but not the look of resignation that came along with it. "Yeah," Sayaka murmured - to her horror. "I guess I can understand that."

"The hell's that supposed to mean," Kyouko hissed, "I look like a thief?"

"I mean, none of us get into this kind of thing because we want to," Sayaka continued, smiling tiredly. "I had to, to protect my friends and try to make this place a bit safer. You had to, just to get by, right?"

Kyouko shifted back a little, simmering, not sure what to say; an impulsive dismissal came to mind, but she stifled it forcefully. If she didn't have anything to say anymore, she wasn't going to talk. She was going to be better now. 

"It was wrong of me to treat you like just another thug," Sayaka continued. "So, um... sorry about that." 

"No offense taken," Kyouko lied. In truth, it was incredibly flattering to hear her say that; she wanted to respond, to maybe follow up with a compliment or apology for Sayaka, but she was lost for words.

"I was gonna meet some friends down here," Sayaka continued, "and I don't think Hitomi will be excited to see you again, so I'm gonna head out." She stood, taking her container with her, and smiled; instinctively Kyouko craned her neck to see whether or not Sayaka had finished (she had). "Thanks for the chat, Kyouko. Was nice getting to know you a little more. Hopefully our paths don't cross again like they did last time." 

"Yeah, hopefully," Kyouko managed to say, a bit numbly. Sayaka turned; life suddenly came back to her. "Wait," she gasped, fishing into her pocket and pulling out her phone. Sayaka blinked, turning to meet her again. "Uh. Lemme see yours." 

"You want my number?" Sayaka asked, incredulously, smirking. 

"So if you get into trouble, you can give me a call," Kyouko continued firmly. "I haven't got anything against you, and I sure as hell don't care for any muggers, so maybe if you get nervous I can come back you up." 

Sayaka's eyes widened with disbelief. Slowly, she withdrew her own phone and handed it to Kyouko; they entered their numbers and swapped back. "I really don't plan on getting involved again anytime soon," Sayaka said hesitantly. 

"That's fine," Kyouko interrupted, shrugging and grinning. "Maybe I'll call you up for a favor sometime too. You never know." 

"Ah, deals with the underworld," Sayaka crooned, smirking again. "Alright, well, that sounds good to me. Later, Kyouko. Get some rest." 

Kyouko waved as she turned away. Then she just sat there - food still a bit uneaten, her phone still in her hands, just... processing. She couldn't help but feel that this was - an unusual turn of good fortune. Almost as if...

She rubbed her eyes and snorted to herself. "Superstitious nonsense," she mumbled angrily, but she smiled all the same. Maybe Rua was on to something with that shrine after all.


	10. Episode 2.4

Kyouko resumed her walking after that. She meandered, absentmindedly, towards the shipyard, slowly becoming aware that she was too exhausted to really think about anything. She hadn't slept in nearly a full day, and even then, she'd just dozed off waiting for Midori to get back from shopping; all told it had been over 24 hours. When she was sufficiently isolated that no one was around, she let Rua out of her pokeball; the fox swiftly assumed her human form and walked pleasantly alongside Kyouko, and Kyouko filled her in on what had happened since they'd left the forest. 

Time pass them by hazily as she went; there was something hypnotic and soothing about relaying the day's events to Rua, who made cute, inquisitive growls and nodded her head but otherwise said nothing to interrupt. She thought maybe itw as because she was happy those things had happened - thinking about her conversation with Sayaka flooded her with relief, and thinking about Homura and her adorable conviction made Kyouko grin. It was people like them that made her job worthwhile; if not for the gang, she wouldn't have been able to help Saika, after all...

...would she? 

"It just feels good to really help people for a change," she continued. "I guess I didn't really help Sayaka, but we talked, and it felt nice. They're not anything like the people I usually hang out with, and I guess it was just kind of a nice change of pace." Rua purred thoughtfully, nodding her human head. Kyouko loved the weird disconnect of hearing fox noises from a human body. "I mean, like... with Midori I always feel like I'm fighting with her to get her to take me seriously, but I always thought she was the only one that was gonna get me. Other than you, of course." She grinned and gingerly patted Rua's head; Rua purred louder and leaned into it, allowing her visage to shimmer a little.

"I just can't help but wonder what it would've been like to be friends with Sayaka," she murmured. "If we'd met when we were younger, would I - would I be in the Greensleeves? Would _she_?" Rua let out another growl, this one a bit confused; Kyouko glanced over to see her brow furrowed with concern, and she laughed. "Yeah, I guess life hypotheticals aren't really my thing," she agreed apologetically. "I must be more tired than I realize." 

Rua nodded, snapping her jaws; Kyouko knew that this had a particular meaning, and she frowned. "What do you mean, I look sleepy?" she grumped. "I've only been awake for - a whole day, or something." She laughed to herself, as Rua rolled her eyes. 

Rua led her after that; they knew of a few different alleys and back roads that people without a bed could use as shelter, though Kyouko was kind of surprised to find them empty. Usually there were a few people here; they kept to themselves, sure, but it was some kind of company. Still; beggars couldn't be choosers. The only thing she had for a blanket was her jacket, but she took it off and draped it over herself regardless, slumping against a wall where she was obscured from the street by a dumpster, and leaning back. It was cold and hard and uncomfortable, sure, but it was a surface. Rua settled in against the wall above and beside her, watching her closely. 

"You take care of me while I nap, ok?" she mumbled sleepily. Rua held out a fist; Kyouko reached up to give her a gentle fistbump. "Yeah. You go, girl." 

Rua smiled. She leaned back again and closed her eyes. Sleep came to her very quickly. 

 

Unfortunately, wakefulness was considerably slower. 

She was aware first of someone talking, loudly, belligerently; she was aware second that her neck was killing her. With a groan she shifted, trying to push herself upright, blinking herself back to awareness; it was dark, now, and someone - or something - was pressed over her. At first she panicked and almost thrashed, but the thing turned to her - a shock of red hair - it was Rua, still in her human form, and she turned away to look at whoever was talking. 

Her eyes narrowed as they set on a boy's face - Kusaro Hijiribe, one of the snottier Greensleeves that up to this point Kyouko had largely avoided. She'd seen him around the headquarters, and a few of the other boys in his company as well, but she didn't realize this was their territory... what were they doing here? What was he sneering so smugly about?

"Go on, let 'em out," Kusaro was cooing, stepping closer. Kyouko didn't know what that meant, but the cruel sweetness in her voice told her enough.

"Off, Rua," she ordered, scrambling to her feet as soon as the 'girl' shuffled away from her in a panic. One of Kusaro's cronies reached out at her, and she yelped and scrambled away again. Kusaro's smile only grew as she glared at him. "What is the meaning of this?" she hissed. "Don't you know who I am, moron?" 

"You ain't nobody anymore," Kusaro snorted. "Not since the boss put you in line, you know? You think she's gonna protect you?" 

"You think _you_ can take me down?" she snapped. In truth, this was a bit worrisome - but she and Rua had wormed her way out of worse before. Glancing around, she caught sight of a few Pokemon already released - a Scraggy, a Houndour, a Machop. "You and these pathetic goons," she clarified dully, rolling her eyes. "What, you guys want to get sent to a hospital, then?" 

"Tough talk," Kusaro laughed. "But you've only got two Pokemon on you, and this lady doesn't have any, so are you gonna protect her and yourself? Or maybe you're just gonna throw her under the bus?" 

Kyouko's eyes narrowed. Of course, they didn't know that Rua was a Pokemon. But that reminded her that this situation was more dire than she had initially realized; these guys would have to be criminally stupid to watch Rua turn into a Pokemon and not recognize that they were being tricked somehow, and without an illusion to work with, Kyouko didn't fancy her team's chances against that Scraggy and Machop, and if they had any _more_ fighting-types...

"I've got something else for you to think about," Kusaro continued - lobbing something at Kyouko; she snatched it out of the air and held it up to her face. It was... her phone? Someone had sent a message to Sayaka:

> `Kyouko: help`  
> Sayaka: what??? where???  
> Sayaka: what's going on??   
> Sayaka: oh man i'm on my way but i don't know where you are kyouko! 

Kyouko turned pale as she read it, face contorting with horror and fury. That must have been Rua that sent it - she was piecing this together in her head: Rua, not strong enough on her own to fight off the full mob before her, had tried to use Kyouko's phone to contact someone for help, but someone had taken the phone from her.

"Sayaka Miki ain't exactly a friend of ours," Kusaro drawled. "In fact, I hear she's an enemy of the gang. So if you've been fraternizing with her, well, I'm sure the boss will want to know all about that." 

"Are you blackmailing me?" Kyouko tried to snarl, but her voice was a bit shaky. She didn't know what to do here. "What do you even want?"

"It's simple," Kusaro huffed. "You pay me your quota for this week, and I won't let the boss know about your little crush over here." He nodded to Rua. "As for your friend, she's got the same deal. Pay up or get beat up."

Kyouko's eyes widened. Her heart began to race; her temples pounded, her voice shook. "You're mugging us." 

"Yeah, the hell's it sound like we're doing?" He grinned and leaned in. "What're you gonna do about it, huh? Not so high and mighty now, are you? How the hell did a weakling like you get to be the enforcer anyway? After this there's no way the boss would bother keeping you around." 

"Are you high?!" Kyouko shrieked, enraged. "If I tell Midori you fucking _mugged_ me -- "

"Why does she care, huh?!?" Kusaro snarled. "You've outstayed your welcome and that black eye proves it! And what're you gonna do about it if me and my boys decide to just beat the shit out of you right now, huh? You gonna go complain to her about all your broken bones?"

"You're the one that's been mugging people with your bands on!" Kyouko cried. "You're the reason Sayaka came after us in the first place!"

"We're meeting our quotas," Kusaro laughed. "What're you getting so uppity about? You think she cares? When she found out about Sayaka she came and gave us a pat on the back for spreading the good word of the Greensleeves. How about you, what're you doing for the gang, huh?" 

Kyouko's eyes grew wide. Fury still filled her, but she didn't know where to channel it anymore. There was no way that was true, was there? But Kusaro just smiled, sickeningly, stepping closer; his goons approached, too, and Rua let out a little whine, clinging to Kyouko's sleeve. 

 

But, there was one thing for sure she knew she had to do. She clenched her teeth and balled her fists. 

"You're a real charmer, you know that, Kusaro," she sneered. 

"Why thank you," he laughed. 

"It'd sure be a shame if something happened to your fucking face." 

He blinked. "Wh-"

One of the most hilariously pathetic things about people - normies and gangsters alike - was the way they seemed to forget that you could fight in ways _other_ than with Pokemon. To be fair, Kyouko didn't do it often, but she still had never thrown a harder punch in her life; she put her whole weight and strength into it; next thing she knew, her knuckles stung as if someone had smashed her hand with a brick, and Kusaro was sprawled backwards on the pavement, clutching his nose and screaming. The boys around him faltered, glancing back and forth between her and him; she pounded her fist (now bloodied) into her other palm, and cracked her neck. 

"Anyone else?" she growled.

One of them ordered the Machop forward; the others began taking their own Pokeballs out, but as the Machop stomped towards her, Rua suddenly leapt forward and tripped it; as her illusion wavered and vanished, she picked it up by the ankle and managed to swing it bodily through the two gangsters nearest. With them knocked aside, an opening to the street was clear; she whipped her phone out again and sprinted for it. "Run," she cried. She didn't have to tell her twice; Rua was beside her in an instant. 

For a moment, she considered calling Sayaka. But the goonies couldn't even hope to keep up with her, and stopped bothering after just a block. She slowed to a walk, panting briefly, as Rua assumed her human disguise beside her with a disgruntled snarl. 

Where did they go from here? 

Kyouko wasn't sure why the question was so hard for her. A part of her wanted to panic, for some reason, as if this was somehow the end of the world. She admitted, it sure sucked to not be able to get the drop on those idiots and put them in their place; starting with Rua on the back foot like that was never a good scenario. But the danger wasn't them. The danger was Midori. 

Somehow, that was both a relief and horrifying to say. Midori was the problem. She had to deal with Midori.

She pocketed her phone again with a sigh. This was something she had to deal with alone. She held her Pokeball aloft - Rua looked shocked and concerned, but Kyouko didn't falter.

"She's my problem," she murmured. "I'll deal with her."

Rua nodded reluctantly, and Kyouko recalled her. Then, hands in her pockets, she walked back to the shipyard flats.


	11. Episode 2.5

The bottom floor of the building where their apartment was served as headquarters. Midori had a "throne" and a desk beside it with a couple of computers; she mostly hung out there during the evening holding 'court', before going out for a heist as needed later in the night. Kyouko didn't exactly hurry, but she still knew she had plenty of time before Midori would be ready to leave. 

There were a couple of somewhat higher-ranked thugs beside the door; she told them to take a hike, and to her relief, they did. There were a few more kids inside, pestering Midori for some reason or another, while she sat up on her throne with her legs crossed and a haughty smile. As Kyouko approached, they fell quiet and stepped back, nervous. She wondered what she looked like. 

"Kyouko," Midori said softly, with genuine surprise. "Something wrong?" 

"Yeah." She glanced at one of the goons. "Beat it." 

Midori looked more surprised still, but gently waved them all out. Kyouko crossed her arms as the door closed behind them. 

"Funny thing," she murmured. "Ran into Kusaro a little bit ago." 

"Did you?" Midori sounded disinterested. "What have I told you about policing the regulars?"

"I was actually asleep," Kyouko growled. "He mistook Rua for a human, and was threatening her, telling her that he and his friends would beat her up if she didn't pay them their quota." 

"Hm." Midori snorted. "He's more of an idiot than I thought, then." 

"The strange thing is," Kyouko continued, "when I called him out about it, he said you already knew about it, and you'd even told him to keep doing it." 

"And you believe him?" Midori interrupted curiously, cocking her head. Kyouko withdrew a little, not sure how to respond to that. "What have I done that's got you distrusting me like this?" 

"You're changing the subject," Kyouko barked. Midori's eyes narrowed. 

"You're asking me a stupid question," she murmured; her voice was lowering, and Kyouko knew that was a danger sign. "Worming out whatever you're upset about and dealing with it is a waste of time. You should be trusting me. But you don't."

Don't speak out, Kyouko reminded herself. Don't just react. Think. Wait. But Midori just watched her with increasing aggravation, as Kyouko desperately tried to think of something to say - some way to force her to answer honestly. As if there was any way to do that. Why had she even come here? What did she hope to accomplish?

"You're upset with me," Midori continued lowly, "for some reason, so now that you have something you can accuse me of, you come storming in here all dramatically to get my attention. Well, you've got it, Kyouko, so what exactly do you intend to do with it?"

 

This was it. This was her opening! 

 

"Midori," she said slowly, seriously - trying to sound friendly, trying to convince herself that she should and could be friendly, that maybe this would even be okay. In truth, as the words formed in her heart, that distant sense of panic from earlier was getting much more intense; she was trying to exert her power over Midori, trying to bend the thing that she and Midori had created, and if it collapsed, she wouldn't have anything left. She would be starting from scratch. 

But there was no use pretending anymore. 

"I'm not happy with the Greensleeves," she said. "I don't like the way this is going down. It's - it's not what I wanted to be." 

"Kyouko," Midori gasped, covering her mouth; Kyouko noted with discomfort that she couldn't tell whether or not the girl was being sarcastic. "Kyouko, after all that we've been through! I did all of this for you, you realize that, don't you?" 

"Yeah, if you say so," Kyouko muttered, shaking her head. "I mean, it's not like you don't benefit from it either. Besides, I hardly get any say in what goes on. You just told me I was the enforcer, and gave me a quota, and on we went."

"Now, that isn't true at all," Midori tutted, regarding her sadly. "Kyouko, we agreed that we were going to form a gang to help people like us, and that's exactly what I've done with the Greensleeves."

"That's what you've told me you did," Kyouko agreed quietly. "You raid corporate shipments of healing supplies so we can redistribute them at affordable rates. The whole goal of this is helping people like us. So why are you so unconcerned with the idea that our guys are going around hurting people?"

"Kyouko, Kyouko. You said it yourself." Midori tented her fingers, covering her mouth; an odd glint came into her narrowed eyes. "Our goal is to help people _like ourselves_. It's all about protecting and empowering our own people. Our business model is already built off of taking things from people that don't need it; how is this any different?"

Kyouko's fist clenched - briefly - but she kept herself forcefully steady. "Even so, this isn't what I wanted," she said firmly. 

"Yes, you always have to be the hero." Midori's eyes narrowed further and her forehead creased "Kyouko, the noble and just, Kyouko the kind and fair. Blah blah blah. Don't you understand, Kyouko? You _can't_ be the hero. You can't save everyone." 

"And why not?" Kyouko retorted. "What would you know about it? Ever since I've met you, all it seems like you cared about is the next heist, the next profit, or scam, or whatever it would be -- "

"Because that's how we stay alive, Kyouko," Midori hissed - suddenly leaning forward and clenching the sides of her seat. "I thought you were smart enough to understand this by now. We're not children anymore! We don't live in a world of fantasy heroes and happily-ever-afters. The simple fact is, Kyouko, if you want something, you've gotta take it from someone else. There's no other way." 

"What kind of bullshit is that?" Kyouko cried. "Everyone else in this whole city gets by without stealing just fine! They work an honest day and get paid, and that's all there is to it!"

"They only have what they have because they take it from _us_ ," Midori growled. "Don't you get it? That's how your parents got by - even off of you, you know. You were an earnest young kid that would believe whatever they told you, and would tell everyone how great it was. They probably used you to sell people on their scam."

"That - doesn't - " Kyouko paled, shaking her head. "What does that even have to do with this?" 

"Your parents stole your childhood from you," Midori intoned. "This city stole your education away, they stole your opportunities, and gave them away to richer kids - THEIR kids - instead of the ones that needed them. We've been cheated from the start, Kyouko."

"I know that!" Kyouko snapped. "That's why I wanted to be better than that! I wanted to stop having to lie and steal! I wanted to prove that - "

"It's impossible," Midori snapped. "This is the way the world runs! People steal from other people, and the ones that try to play nice get fucked over. That's why Sayaka beat you. That's why I beat Sayaka. That's why your parents were able to scam so many people. Trying to play nice just makes you another victim."

"How can you say that?!" Kyouko tried to sound angry, but in truth, she was suddenly distraught and horrified. "What - what about our empire, Midori?! I thought you wanted to try to make a world where - "

"Do you really believe any of that is possible?!" Midori laughed. "I knew you were naive, Kyouko, but seriously? Listen!" She stood up and stepped towards her, slowly - smiling, eyes wide and twinkling with dark fire, her hair and coat flared out behind her. Kyouko instinctively backed up, a sense of dread filling her. "You're a great trainer, Kyouko," she pressed. "I mean that! You have what it takes to really make it big. You and I together could do some great things. But if you ever want to amount to something, you're gonna have to accept that this childish notion of 'fairness', this idea that you can get by without hurting anyone else - it's all a fantasy." 

She offered a hand, though Kyouko was well out of reach to accept it. "I've done all of this to provide for us," she insisted. "Everything I've done, even this, right now, is all trying to help you - to help _us_." She inclined her head. "Just accept reality, Kyouko. What we're doing here isn't about right or wrong, it's about a few people trying to survive in a world full of other people trying to survive."

Kyouko stepped back one more time. "What if I don't believe you?" 

Midori's smile vanished, and her brow creased again. "You don't seriously mean to turn your back on me? On everything we've made?"

Kyouko's heart jumped into her throat. Is - Is that really what she meant? "No, I- " She gulped, and steadied herself. "I just mean, there's got to be another way we can do this," she said firmly. "We can be a better gang than this. You know?" 

 

Slowly, Midori's arm drooped to her side. She sighed heavily, and cast her gaze down; her hands then shifted to her hips, and she groaned, shaking her head. 

"Kyouko, if you're really serious," she said softly, "then you know there's only one way we can resolve this." She plucked a pokeball from inside her jacket, and tossed it up, then caught it again. "But you know you won't beat me," she added gravely. "You can't." 

For a moment, Kyouko humored the idea of challenging her anyway - but that was absolutely absurd. There was no reason to believe that Midori would change her mind just because Kyouko was so passionate that she'd put her - or Rua's - neck on the line. Midori was right, of course; she had almost twice as many Pokemon as Kyouko, and they were no small degree tougher. 

But as she thought about it, another idea came to her. One that she liked much, much more. 

"You're right," she murmured. "That's fine then. Guess I'll just leave." 

She turned around - but not before she saw Midori's eyes grow very wide, and her skin turn pale. "No!!" Midori cried. "You can't!" Kyouko gritted her teeth; this was the hardest part. She was still kind of terrified, being honest - she could act tough about it, but she had nowhere to _go_. In her mind, she could only play this as a bluff, and if Midori called it... 

"Kyouko, listen to me," Midori pleaded. "Listen! You can't go! We're - we're soulmates, aren't we? I mean, we've been friends ever since you lost your parents, and I always did everything I could to look after you and teach you -"

"If I can't be happy here," Kyouko said, still facing away, desperately trying to stop her voice from quivering, "then I shouldn't stay. I should just go."

"Where are you going to go?!" Midori cried. "If you leave - you'll just be back on the street again, like before! This is all you have, Kyouko!" 

"I made it this far," Kyouko replied softly, shrugging. "I'll get by, I'm sure."

"But - Kyouko - " Midori stamped her foot; Kyouko heard it, and tried to laugh to herself. "You know that if you leave, I have to - I have to treat you as an enemy of the Greensleeves! You know that, don't you!?" 

"You do?" Kyouko hazarded a glance back, eyebrows raised. "I don't know why you'd need to do that," she murmured. "But being honest, if I'm striking out on my own, your goons will probably get in my way eventually. So I'll wind up taking them down one way or another." 

"You think you can take all of us on?!" Midori shrieked.

"Sayaka seemed to be doing alright," Kyouko replied calmly, with amusement. 

Midori let out another shrill yell - hurling a Pokeball that Kyouko at first thought was meant for her head; she swiftly ducked, but it sailed over her regardless and burst open, dropping a Heracross between her and the door. 

"Wait, what the hell?!" Kyouko whirled back, now sincerely frightened. "Midori, what are you - "

"You _can't_ leave," Midori cried. "I won't let you go!" 

This was the worst her plan could have possibly gone. Kyouko's goal was to force Midori to reconcile to keep Kyouko around - she hadn't thought Midori would ever lower herself to such a transparent threat. Instinctively, she reached for her belt, but Rua was totally helpless here, and her Houndour might inflict some damage but couldn't win an all out fight. She'd lost, plain and simple - and now that she realized just how far Midori was willing to go to win, she wanted to escape more desperately than ever.

"How dare you make me do this," Midori was rambling, storming towards her. "After everything I've sacrificed for you - all of the stupid things I had to do to placate you along the way, and this is how you treat me!? If you weren't so useful, I would just leave you and your stupid Pokemon in a heap outside of town and call it done!" She slashed her arm out, then thrust it towards Kyouko. "As it is," she added coldly, "you can't keep them. They're mine now, Kyouko, until you prove to me you're trustworthy enough to travel with them again."

"What the hell?!" Kyouko gasped, hoarsely, flailing away and clutching Rua's pokeball tightly to her chest. "You can't! Rua's - Rua's my best friend, Midori, you can't take her away from me like that!"

"I can't let you have her, either," she hissed. "You've lost, Kyouko! You can't go around making threats like this if you're afraid to lose!"

"I didn't threaten you!" Kyouko cried. "I just tried to explain - "

"Shut up!" Midori screeched. "Give them to me!" 

 

All of a sudden the door caved in behind them, splintering as it smashed into Heracross' back; the creature grunted with pain and annoyance, as both Midori and Kyouko spun to see what had happened. Through the smoke and dust Kyouko caught a flash of blue hair; equal measures of horror and relief flooded her. "Damn it, Sayaka," she cried, "what are you doing here?!" 

"Saving your stupid ass!" Sayaka roared. "Come on, let's go!" 

Midori hurled another Pokeball over Kyouko's shoulder - an Ivysaur leapt into the fray, lunging at Sayaka; Fang intercepted the attack, sweeping in from out of Kyouko's sight, and Heracross made to charge at the girl instead -- but before anything further could happen, there was a huge explosion of light that knocked Kyouko and Midori backwards. When Kyouko scrambled to her feet, she realized that Sayaka was not alone. 

Beside her stood none other than Hitomi - eyes narrowed, arms crossed, and at her flank stood a Flaffy, lightning coursing along its mane. Kyouko could not believe her eyes. 

"Mara, build another charge," Hitomi ordered coldly, as she stepped over the debris that had once been the front wall of their safehouse. "Kyouko, is it?" 

"You're her friend, from the other night," Kyouko gasped. "Why - why are you here?!" 

"When Hitomi and I got back, we agreed we had to stand up to your boss somehow," Sayaka cried, grinning triumphantly; Fang stood heroically beside her, Midori's Ivysaur apparently knocked back or incapacitated by Mara's lightning. "I wans't sure we'd be able to do anything, but when you gave me your advice - and then you texted me earlier, I thought that sounded like an opportunity. Besides, I can't leave you hanging! We're friends now, right?!" 

Kyouko could not answer. She was dumbstruck.

"You - you traitor!" Midori cried, pushing herself up, staring at the three girls in shock and rage. "You brought them here!"

"No, your pathetic guards kindly told me where you were," Hitomi growled. "I advise you keep your mouth shut. Mara does not have much practice, and her lightning can sometimes chain a bit... unpredictably." 

"You can't threaten me," Midori shouted. "I can take all three of you!" 

"Kyouko," Sayaka shouted, urgently. "We gotta go!"

Kyouko nodded and pushed herself up, dashing for the front without another thought. Sayaka turned to join her, guiding her away, and as Kyouko glanced back she saw Hitomi following along shortly behind. Midori was screaming curses at them, shouting for the guards to get after them - but they all shied away from Fang and Mara, the former of whom flexed impressively while the latter's wool crackled menacingly. Kyouko saw several defeated Pokemon nearby, and as she looked up at Fang, she saw several small cracks and dents in her scales - signs of recent battle. 

"Mission accomplished!" Sayaka cheered, clapping a hand on Kyouko's shoulder. "Let's get you back home!" 

"Home?" Kyouko asked numbly, eyes wide. Sayaka nodded. 

"What, you thought we were just gonna leave you out here to freeze on the streets?" Her grin widened; Kyouko hung her head quickly. She didn't want them to see her tear up. 

You can do it, Kyouko. You can do this.

"Thanks," she managed to choke. 

Sayaka laughed, but much more softly this time. "It's what friends are for, right?" 

 

 

Kyouko bounced a couple of times on the couch; it was soft and a bit bouncy, and she figured she'd probably have no trouble getting comfortable on it. She and Midori had had the money to furnish their own place, sure, but that didn't mean they could do it luxuriously; even if this was just a couch in the living room of Sayaka's one-bedroom, in some ways it was still a very clear improvement.

"I hope it's nice enough," Sayaka laughed, nervously. "I mean, it's no crime boss hideout or anything, but - it's what I've got."

"Anything is better than being anywhere near that bitch a second longer," she murmured. Just thinking about it sent her mind reeling; it felt like she had been torn in two, one half pleading with her to go back and fix this before it was too late, and another half elated to finally be free of Midori, now that she'd seen just how far she was willing to go. 

"Kyouko," Hitomi said sternly - she had a terribly serious and stiff demeanor, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to understand that this was what Sayaka had been talking about when she'd mentioned 'elegant higher-class' friends. She had to admit, the girl had really surprised her; standing up to Midori like that had to take some serious guts. "I understand the subject may be sensitive right now, but when we get a chance, we'd like to ask more about the Greensleeves operations," she continued.

"It's not sensitive, so much as I'm just exhausted," Kyouko murmured. Her nap in the alley had not been terribly restful. She looked over at Sayaka again. "How long am I allowed to stay?"

"That depends," Sayaka chuckled, "can you pay rent?" 

Kyouko thought about that for a moment - did she have a way to earn her keep? If Sayaka really would let her stay here... But that train of thought went back to her previous job, and her heart sank as she realized that all of those trainers and families from her old route wouldn't have any way to heal their Pokemon anymore. Even if the other Greensleeves knew where she'd gone and kept track of all her clients, she didn't want to leave them in Midori's care - that would be worse than no care at all. 

"I dunno," she admitted, after a moment, "but I'll do my best." 

"Well, if I could get a job, I'm sure you won't have any trouble." Sayaka grinned and flashed her a thumbs up. "Maybe if we both get an income we can look for somewhere a li'l bigger, so you can have a private space. Or you can just move out if you want, I guess."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Kyouko murmured, looking away. 

"We should let her rest, Sayaka," Hitomi sighed. "Kyouko - it was nice to meet you, in less hostile circumstances."

Kyouko nodded. "Nice to meet you too," she said softly. "Thank you again."

"I'm glad we were able to help." She smiled faintly - a confident and assertive smile, on her otherwise gentle features. "This was a victory against the Greensleeves as well, so it wasn't entirely selfless." 

"Yeah, I guess so." Kyouko smirked. "Nice work, then." 

Hitomi stood and bowed to them, before taking her leave. Sayaka stretched a bit awkwardly after Hitomi left, and paced around in the kitchen - Kyouko watched her, laying back, getting comfortable. Eventually, though, she waved and made to walk back towards the bedroom.

"Hey, Sayaka?" Kyouko asked. Sayaka blinked and whirled around, startled. "This is a really stupid question," Kyouko murmured, looking away and flushing. "I dunno why I stopped you."

"Well, now you have to ask," Sayaka crooned, leering at her playfully. "Come on, spill it."

Kyouko sighed dramatically. "It's just, I was in Ilex Forest last night," she explained, "and I left an offering there for the first time. And today - I made a couple of real friends, and broke out of that hellhole of a gang. I just mean to ask... are you spiritual or anything? Do you think that..."

"What, that the Pokemon of the shrine helped you or something?" Sayaka shrugged, grinning again. God, her smile just filled the whole goddamn room! It was infectious! "I dunno about that, but I will say, we're friends because you're a good person, so just keep being a good person and good things oughta happen, right?" 

"Maybe." Kyouko smiled, tiredly shooing her away. "Fine, good enough. Let me sleep." 

Sayaka laughed and drifted away. "Good night!"


End file.
